SOZIALES HETZWERK is a new project that came to life on May 1st, 2020. Led by singer, songwriter and musician, Jim, the band is made up of numerous musicians from different parts of the world, such as Mexico, Chile, USA, Venezuela, and Germany etc. The music on the brand new record delivers a blend of German rock, punk and alternative sounds. The self-written and self-produced album, which started pre-sales on April 23rd, officially released on May 1, 2020. Steeped in its idiosyncrasies, this is the most comfortably confident that these genres have sounded in years.
With the musical world growing more and more technological and reliant on computers, the electric six-string fretwork is wizardly and wonderful, while the basslines and vocals feel intrinsically threaded through the arrangements. It all adds up to one hell of an adventure in sound.
The song “Leise” is at once menacing and unhinged with its dystopian narrative and guitar-driven momentum. Roughly translated the opening lines read: “The streets gray and deserted. All the people are gone now, behind a wall lonely and very quiet. The plague is in the air…” This is a scenario that most of the world will immediately recognize.
Jim’s vocal tones are abrasive, aggressive and prophetic as he deals out the story-line behind a rock-steady mid-tempo rhythm. The chugging guitar riffs are supported by a thick layer of orchestration which adds further sonic dynamics and atmosphere to the mix which was executed by Dorian Quäl (Germany).
SOZIALES HETZWERK’s rock attitude, punk approach, and melodic simplicity is ready to inspire the alternative rock movement that has been crashing to the ground in recent times.
The tile track, “Soziales Hetzwerk”, again takes an intrinsic look at the workings of the modern man, as the opening lines describe the scenario: “One saw it, the other wants to experience it, the third didn’t care, therefore he immediately took action. He did all the bad things people like to do, when it comes to how to twist truths.”
Amid a squall of paper-cut-sharp guitar distortion, a runaway drumbeat, and lethal bass lines churning beneath him, Jim superimposes his ferocious vocal delivery onto the energetic musical backdrop. Few current alternative rock groups, manage to provide such a high entertainment quotient while maintaining artistic integrity.
In the 21st Century, SOZIALES HETZWERK is a project that makes for essential listening, especially if you have an interest in alternative rock, and all things still guitar-driven. Though a new project with collaborative members spread across the world, SOZIALES HETZWERK have their sound totally figured out already.
Their 8 track album plays testimony to that fact. The other standouts include “Ich nine es lied” which features some fiery lead guitar work, the slower “Alles oder Nichts”, with its rich harmonic backdrop and melodic vocals, as well as the roller-coaster “Bis zur Gewalt”.
There are few better two- song closing sequences than “Alles was Bleibt”, which presents a luscious wall of layered guitars, and “Freiheit”, which brings a taste of funky southern-fried rock to the album.
It is catchy as hell and all by itself justifies the manifestation of this project. Everything good about SOZIALES HETZWERK is prima facie evidence, of all they are adding to the quality of guitar-driven alternative rock in 2020.
SOZIALES HETZWERK is made up of Lukky Sparxx (Chile), Jake Naugle (USA), Rainer Jadischke (South Africa), Hector Ruano (Venezuela), Bruno Melro (Portugal), Alfonso Leal (Mexico), and Farris Brooks (USA).
Homepage: www.soziales-hetzwerk.at
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dassozialeHetzwerk
Bandcamp: https://sozialeshetzwerk.bandcamp.com/releases
