It’s reissue time. Another rare industrial classic has been retrieved from the archives. This cd by Gerechtigkeits Liga, the first release for the new label Isegrimm Records, contains material from the period 1984/1985.
The core of the cd is formed by the eleven tracks of the album Hypnotischer Existenzialismus from 1985. The album is inspired by the work of the Rumanian philosopher Emile Cioran, from whom a text is printed inside the nice digipack. The disc is further filled to the brim with the rare12″ The Games must go on, as well as seven previously unreleased live tracks, recorded in New York in 1984. Of course all material has been restored and digitally remastered.
Gerechtigkeits Liga are contemporaries of Test Dept., Laibach, Lustmord and SPK, on whose Side Effects label the Hypnotischer Existenzialismus LP was originally released. I’ve got to know this mysterious project through their two tracks on the “Vhutemas Archetypi” compilation, not included on this cd. Gerechtigkeits Liga was formed in 1981 by four Germans, later the project relocated to London. They contributed to many obscure (tape) compilations, and participated in various multimedia performances. Judging from the loud and dense live tracks on this cd, performances by this act must have been quite an experience. Last year they played their first performance in over 20 years at a festival organised by ironflame.de.
When listening to Hypnotischer Existenzialismus, you can clearly hear that it was made quite some time ago. Being used to today’s full productions, heavy rhythms and harsh noises, the music of Gerechtigkeits Liga perhaps does not sound directly overwhelming. That is not too say that it has lost its charm and meaning, on the contrary. The repetitive rhythmic elements with lots of tribal percussion still work in a hypnotic, ritual manner. A good example is ‘Schamanischer Zyklus In Der Nacht’. Also the raw industrial sounds are still uncomfortable to the ear.
Especially the tracks of the original lp have a raw urgency to them, with ‘Narkomanie’ as a powerful example. It it not hard to imagine how this experimental music must have stimulated other people to create music too. Despite the lack of sophisticated technology, Gerechtigkeits Liga manages to do innovative things with many layers of samples and effects and all sorts of rhythms. Hypnotischer Existenzialismus displays quite a varied musical spectrum, from dark soundscapes like ’40 Days’ to percussive blasts like ‘Oskopistentraum’. This anthology contains a valuable piece of history and is a fascinating listening trip.
