How well do we know Xmal Deutschland after all? The 80s German gothic band's hit Incubus Succubus and their first three albums are rightly cult favourites, their last album rightly totally forgotten, but there were other treasures to be found in the band's pre-Fetisch days. On 8 March 2024, the day that former band singer Anja Huwe returned to music with her solo album Codes, Sacred Bones Records also released a compilation of the band's early tracks, somewhat mistakenly entitled Early Singles 1981-1982.
Early Singles 1981-1982 is in fact the reunion of the 1981 single Schwarze Welt, which contained Die Wolken and Großstadtindianer as well as the title track, and the 1982 single Incubus Succubus, on which the demonic song was accompanied by Zu Jung Zu Alt and Blut Ist Liebe ; these two singles are joined by two survivors: the track Kälbermarsch, taken from the 1981 compilation Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig for the ZickZack label, and the live track Allein, taken from the recording of the 1982 Nosferatu Festival in Denmark. A fine exercise in archaeology, with some pleasant surprises in store!
This is a different Xmal Deutschland from the one that would later make its name. synthesizer pads that would later lead the band's melodies weren't there yet, the melancholy wasn't there yet, and neither was the polished sound that the band would later achieve on the 4AD label. Instead, we discovered or rediscovered front row drums, furious and a little messy, cold, repetitive electronic loops, a much more incisive guitar and Anja Huwe who screams and chants much more than she sings. As you can tell, Xmal Deutschland were very close to punk at the time. It's primal, virulent and unstoppable. We go wild with them, surprised by this energy, which the band later lost to other qualities. Only the short Die Wolken escapes this aggression, sounding curiously like a female-voiced version of some of DAF's experimental tracks.
Großstadtindianer's simple, thrilling hammering and Blut Ist Liebe's gloomy, haunting ambience with its icy call effectively draw us in. Having said that, let's not beat about the bush: the masterpiece of the album is, of course, Incubus Succubus, with its frighteningly heavy atmosphere built up by guitars, drums and a collection of samples, in the middle of which Anja Huwe's haunted vocals seize us... The track is still probably one of the best gothic songs ever written, and we're delighted to see it finally surrounded by its brothers.
So our heartfelt thanks go to Sacred Bones Records for unearthing these tracks from the shadows, not only adding to our knowledge of Xmal Deutschland but also, for those who didn't already know them, revealing another facet of the band that we've come to love.
