schelmish die hässlichen kinder

Released: 02 November 2009 Label: Napalm Records

Now, this is a bizarre one.

Although now on album number nine, the mittelalter rock of German band Schelmish seems to be a relatively unknown quantity to many outside of their homeland. And truth be told, they don’t make it easy for a new listener. There is certainly nothing wrong in attempting to fuse seemingly disparate styles, and in billing themselves as ‘medieval rock / punk / metal’ Schelmish undoubtedly tick this particular box.

The problem is not with the crossover of styles that Schelmish display, but in the fact the rather than combining them into one seamless whole, they flirt dramatically from one to the other, leaving the listener feeling disorientated from song to song.

Opening track Bist Du Bereit sets the tone nicely. A dark, powerful, down tempo track, that builds dramatically and suggests an interesting album to come. Inexplicably, Schelmish follow this promising opening with Boulevard, a disposable pop punk song reminiscent of Sum 41 or Bowling for Soup.

This genre hopping continues throughout the albums’ fourteen tracks. Too Late sounds like New Model Army jamming with a beefed-up Levellers; For the Clansman is all bagpipes and Celtic drumming, while both 1212 and Mosaik see the band dive head first into some full on groove metal.

Not once though do all the styles and influences truly gel into something that is uniquely and identifiably the Schelmish sound.

After nine albums, the band have had the time to fine tune their style, so perhaps the unusual stylistic leaps are exactly what they were aiming for. And perhaps it’s exactly what their fans want.

The rest of us will just have to cope with our confusion.


by Marcus Jervis