For the first time, we've got all of the available releases (on all possible formats) from Die Kreuzen, those hardcore/post-hardcore legends from Milwaukee whose influence on underground music stretched all the way from their earliest assaults of blazing thrash up to the later arty/proggy rock sound that the band would evolve into before calling it quits in the early 90's. We've had their first 7" Cows & Beer, recently reissued by Barbarian Records, in stock for a while, but before now I hadn't picked up any of their other releases on Touch And Go for the shop. Now that their classic 80's output has been reissued on vinyl with digital download accompaniment, I decided to stock everything from Die Kreuzen that I could get my hands on for the shop, and it's all highly recommended listening for anyone into arty, progressive hardcore thrash and heavy alt rock.

Die Kreuzen made an immediate impression on the American hardcore scene of the early 80s with their debut 7" and the subsequent self-titled full length, an album of warped thrash that would go on to be cited as a major influence on bands like Voivod, Napalm Death, Neurosis, Brutal Truth and Season To Risk. The earliest material was full-bore nuclear speed and aggression that was along similar lines as other Midwestern HC outfits like Negative Approach and Necros, and the supersonic violence of Boston's Siege, but with Dan Kubinski's unique howling vocal style and some unusual, jagged songwriting and arrangements that hinted at the proggy direction that their sound would take later on. After that Lp, Die Kreuzen would begin evolving beyond blitzkrieg HC with their second album October File, a strange, progressive mix of gothic post-punk, metallic crunch, psychedelia and jagged noise that didn't sound like anything else at the time (and which still sounds incredibly fresh and creative). Later albums like 1988's Century Days 1991's Cement would move ever further away from their earlier blasting fury, incorporating more elements of pop and psychedelia, horn sections, industrial influences, and melody, but even to the end, the band always maintained a heavy, metallic crunch that was heavier than most of the other bands that had emerged from the post-hardcore 80's.

Die Kreuzen's final album Cement from 1991 was a far cry from the savage blitz of their Cows And Beer 7". Produced by future alt-rock producer extraordinaire Butch Vig, Cement is a somewhat mysterious album that was largely ignored when it came out, even by many longtime fans of the band, and if you dig around online for it, there's a surprising lack of information on the album. In the almost twenty years since its release, the record has seemed to drop further into obscurity, but this album is actually pretty interesting, and definitely quite strange, a sort of quasi-grunge/art-rock/psych-metal album that was fairly ambitious even if the music lacked a bit of the energy that made their earlier records so amazing.

These twelve songs combine swirling distorted guitars and wailing solos, complex drumming with lots of lurching, waltz like rhythms, and quirky song arrangements into this dramatic mix of post punk and metallic alt-rock. A lot of the songs have this dark, proggy feel, lots of psychedelic guitar moves and lush metallic crunch, and at times, the music on Cement can vaguely sound like a cross between Janes Addiction and what Soundgarden were doing around the same time, but heavier and weirder. What really stands out on the album are Dan Kubinski's vocals, which have undergone this bizarre transformation from the gasoline-soaked howl of Die Kreuzen's earlier records into this distinctive high-pitched heavy metal wail that sort of sounds like the guy from Def Leppard, as weird as it sounds. It's a unique mix of sounds, a sort of metallic shoegazey art-rock that ranges from the maniacal, weirdly beautiful metallic rock of the opener "Wish" to the wailing psych-crunch of "Holes", the roiling moodiness of "Blue Song" and the odd intersection of space rock and anthemic metal that is "Shake Loose".

A quirky album that was unfortunately the band's last, Cement isn't essential like the first two Die Kreuzen full-lengths but should still be checked out by hardcore Kreuzen fans and anyone into the heavy, harder edged music coming out of the experimental post-hardcore underground of the late 80's.