Waldteufel is a band around Markus Wolff, who focuses on creating ‘traditional’ types of folk music. This American musician gets his inspiration from northern myths and traditions, and he even writes most songs in German. So far this project made a few singles and compilation contributions, as well as one album. “Eines Gottes Spur” is again following the traces of the old gods. I appreciate this 10″ record more than “Heimliches Deutschland”, the decent debut album released in 2002. The songs are a little less tranquil and more ritual, in particular through the more dominant percussion.
Strangely enough side A has to be played at 33 rpm, while the B-side has to be fastened to 45 rpm. After a short drumming introduction to ‘Mein Blut’ deep male spoken vocals resound, reminding me of Hekate. The song is continued with low, sinister bass and accordeon elements (it sounds like distorted electronics) and strong percussion, with occassional vocal shouts in the background. A minimal but effective track. ‘Stärke uns I’ is dominated by ritual chanting of German lyrics and sober, minimal drumming. As the song evolves the singing is coming from multiple voices to create a ceremony-like effect. The B-side continues in a similar manner, with mysterious chanting and sparse instrumental accompaniment. The last song ‘Stürme’ has then again more powerful percussion, giving it a raw, ‘uncivilized’ energy.
