1914: Für Kaiser, Volk und Vaterland! (2016)

Okay, so this one is a little odd.  1914 is another Ukrainian band who is named such because of their obsession with World War I.  Of course WWI began in the year 1914.  Before anyone gets any ideas after reading the Drudkh post the other day, I have not gone deep down the NS rabbit hole.  This is a band who has developed their entire sound and content around WWI.

This is an EP, but it is a long one and actually comes close to the length of a full-length album, but there are several demo tracks included and a remix, and the whole thing is just kind of strange.  I picked it up when I was having problems tracking down the band's highly regarded 2018 album The Blind Leading the Blind, which I picked up just a few days later anyway.

So what do we have here?  Well the first track is kind of a weird electronic intro that is not at all a harbinger of things to come.  Most of the proper songs on here are doom-laden death metal that reflect the horrors of warfare.  The second track is a very long one that features a Nirvana cover buried in there somewhere.  Seriously.  "Something in the Way" is a heartfelt song that some feel was about Kurt Cobain's time being homeless.  In the hands of 1914, it is less poignant and more horrifying.  The next track is the aforementioned weird-ass remix, complete with keyboard and techno-esque programming.  It is bizarre and out of place on this release.  Then, we get a collection of demos which are easily the best parts on the entire EP.  The recording is raw on the demos, but you get a real feeling for what this band is all about.  They are devastatingly heavy and shockingly emotional.

So, like I said, this thing is really weird.  It is kind of tough to really get a feel for what this band really sounds like when the songs include a cover, remix and a bunch of demo tracks.  I am not sorry I picked this up, but when looking to listen to 1914, I will likely go for The Blind Leading the Blind far more often.