A band that has "Army" in its name is fundamentally suspicious to me as an opponent of any army. When the acknowledgments in the booklet also mention the second platoon of the Prollmusikkorps, veterans on foreign missions, and the group leader of the supply platoon, I start to feel more than just a slight discomfort. So let's take a closer look at this band called MARTENS ARMY.
Stöbi, who drums for Gerbenok, is the head of the project and is responsible for the music and lyrics. In MARTENS ARMY, he plays guitar and has taken on lead vocals. Pascal plays bass and Christian drums.
With the band name and the musicians, it’s clear there won’t be any baroque orchestral music. The trio offers melodic, powerful Oi with German lyrics. Since the guys have been making music for quite some time, the melodies are correspondingly refined, and the songwriting is quite impressive. The recording quality is also high and fits perfectly with the band's sound.
Everything could be great. Three buddies making music and having fun. What’s wrong with that? Can it be bad? However, when you read the lyrics and let the music flow into your ears a few times, it becomes difficult from a musical standpoint. The sound is incredibly cool and truly recommendable. Oi with street punk influence and melody.
It’s hard to do better.
What could be improved are some lyrics that come across as rather blunt, meaningless... almost annoying in songs like “Wasserschädel.” Then there are very good, critical, and thoughtful lyrics like “Opfer oder Täter,” “So kann es gehen,” or the more battle cry sounding “Weil wir dafür geboren sind.” These are the highlights of the album.
Of course, there are also the usual songs about solidarity, women, violence, and the skinhead culture (or what the three think of it).
What weighs heavily and is hard to digest despite all the positives is the song “Zieht Sie hoch,” in which the band advocates for the reintroduction of the death penalty. The last line of the song states: “We say, reinstate the death penalty.” Okay, the lyrics deal with child abuse, which is a terrible topic. Still, there is no reason, absolutely no reason, to reintroduce the death penalty. None at all. With this song, you align yourself with the right-wing parties and comrades who are hunting for votes and recruits. That makes me feel sick, MARTENS ARMY! This is pub politics of the far-right conservative kind.
This is unacceptable. I won’t even discuss this with anyone. Those who support the death penalty are against democracy. However, this review should not turn into an essay on the relationship between democracy and the death penalty.
Just to add, Stöbi is said to have had various connections with the right and far-right scene in the past. There are mentions of Nazi pubs and Blood & Honour.
So despite the mostly good album, it can only be said here: “KEEP AWAY.”
What to make of the fact that the record is released on the band’s label Krawallbrüder is something everyone can form their own opinion about.
