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I still remember the first time I saw the guys from Rügen. It was at the Tommy-Haus in Berlin. A crazy, tattooed man from head to toe jumped off the stage and into the audience. He was screaming into the microphone while his band played a brutal sound of punk rock, hardcore, and metal.
That was my first encounter with COR from Rügen.
Since then, several years have passed.
The band has remained true to itself over the years. Their hardness, their statements, and their attitude have not changed. They walk their own path, even when it's difficult. If there is a band that does this and that I completely believe in, it is COR.
The band remains consistently DIY. They cannot be bought or bent. They follow their own, self-determined, rocky path. They have their own label. They manage themselves, book their own concerts, and also completely handle their merchandise themselves.
Doing everything by themselves may be more labor-intensive, takes more time and effort, but they also have control over everything. They do it the way they want. No compromises.
On their journey, the band is gaining more supporters, so that COR is now known throughout Germany and has also found fans abroad.
Just their Cuba tour in 2014. They financed and organized it with the help of the Cuban band Tendencia and many supporters. It was the first tour of a German rock band ever in the Caribbean state. Neither PayPal nor the flight costs or the difficult organization could stop them. There was the idea, there was implementation, and as can be seen on the tour DVD that was also released, there was a really great result. Just do it, people!
The new album by COR is called “Lieber tot als Sklave“. Even the title is a provocation.
Aren't we all slaves? Slaves of time, slaves of capital, slaves of our own greed? Who among us really does 100% of what they want?
Maybe we can't always change everything, but questioning ourselves and setting priorities about what is important to us is crucial. This is the first step towards a self-determined life, towards freedom!
Or as the band sang in one of their earlier songs:
Get up, move forward, fingers out of your ass!
The opener “Unregierbar“ provides the motivation to do this. A song for pure self-determination. For people who have not succumbed to capital, power, and greed.
We are ungovernable.
We are uncontrollable.
Freedom, equality, brotherhood.
We are equal,
We are free!
Then it immediately continues with “Lieber tot als Sklave“. The song hits the same mark.
We have our own lives. Make something of it! Don't complain. Get your ass up and go!
Whining, complaining, lamenting…others can do that.
The two songs are anthems for freedom, for self-determination. This is up to each of us. What we make of it, we are responsible for. Freedom matters!
Powerfully packaged, the songs are in their own mix of trash rock, punk rock, and hardcore. The recording is the best of all COR albums so far!
The album is immediately accessible.
The sound is hard. The drums hit brutally. The guitar drives the sound forward, and the bass hums its wicked melody. There isn't much to say about singer Friedemann. He sings the songs with full fervor.
With full fervor…no, Friedemann is the songs.
Freedom runs through the album like a red thread. Despite this, it is not a concept album.
Freedom is the overarching theme. Freedom has many facets.
Whether in “Schlachtfeld“ where people who want to fight and kill each other are locked up to freely do good to each other. The others remain free and are not oppressed by these other people (where the question arises, what do you do with the winner on the battlefield?).
Whether in “Business“ where the band describes the music business in short, concise words, as it is. Better to be free from the business. Death to the music industry!
Whether in “Frei Sein“….or also in “Mischling“, which can be considered a successor to the song “Bastard“ from the album “Herztier“.
Frei Sein…are you ready? That’s what Friedemann asks in the song of the same name.
Are we ready for that? Are we ready to give up our fear and our (politically and media-driven) need for security? Are we ready to stand up for our lives? For everything we do?
Freedom has many facets, and COR illuminates them on this album.
“Lieber tot als Sklave“ is the essence of COR's history so far.
“Lieber tot als Sklave“ is what the band thinks, feels, and lives.
“Lieber tot als Sklave“ is a cry for freedom…will it be heard?
