The first time I dealt with a final boss, if I remember correctly, was in the video game Monkey Island. His name was Le Chuck, an undead pirate with strange superpowers. But it might have also been the final boss in Wolfenstein 3D. He was also nasty and had incredibly strong reactions and weapons. Later, there were various final bosses in Doom and Co. Some were defeated, while I bit my teeth on others. Then I came out of my video game phase and discovered the world around me. There were no more final bosses for me. Until many years ago, I met King Kraut, the singer of DER ENDGEGNER. What fascinated me most about the band was their incredibly cool homepage with its unique, memorable pixel graphics. The site is still like that, but the band has changed significantly over the many years of its existence. The preliminary end result is “Game Over ?!?“.
The Berlin band DER ENDGEGNER I got to know as a punk rock band, with many excursions into metal, screamo, rock, pop, and a touch of hardcore. It was very special live, as what the band offered was truly not something everyone provided.
On “Game Over ?!?“, the band offers a different sound. The sound is more forward-moving. They themselves call their style Destrukto-Swing. I call it punk rock with metal or hardcore guitars and a driving drumbeat. The whole thing moves massively forward and envelops the listener in broad walls of guitars.
The lyrics mostly speak a radical language without descending into mindless bickering. It is the radical language of a band that is pissed off about the current state of affairs. As examples, I would like to mention “Nerven-Country“, with the following excerpt...
You sit alone and eat the fear until you can’t anymore!
Your little space and its edge are worn out and frayed!
You sit with me in the trap!
The hairs on the back of your neck stand up, alone against everyone!!!
Where is the point where it no longer matters,
Because everything is irrelevant!!!
...or also “In mein Hirn“, with the following excerpt:
Could it be that the denominator is getting quite small!
When you divide simplicity?
However, the band does not only process their anger towards the world and society on this album, but also wants to shake us up! They want to shake us up so that we finally move away from the homogeneous mush that the media serves us and form a self-chosen individuality with edges and corners.
The combo can also create melancholic, dreamy pieces, like in “Tanke, zehn nach vier!“. A song that I consider one of the best on this album. When listening, the song stands out particularly. It tells the monotonous work of a person who is finishing his night shift at the gas station. Dreary and dull, and in the next moment, action, a robbery, and then again familiar, almost mechanical gestures, conversations, and then as a last, desperate act, the breakout, the (self-)destruction. Is a person really just a little more than a machine?!
The lyrics all come from King Kraut. The singer manages to stir up thoughts with his focused language, making us reflective, and perhaps he even manages to create a small change in all of us. If someone is thinking of the lyrics of Hass now, they are not entirely wrong, but the lyrics of Hass are even more concise, usually shorter, and overall a bit differently structured. Certain, perhaps only distant similarities cannot be denied.
DER ENDGEGNER releases a brutal album with “Game Over ?!?“, both musically and lyrically. Give this band a stage, because live, their music will wash our heads.
Let’s hope that DER ENDGEGNER continues for a long time. At 16, you can just drink beer and wine.
In Rockhaus Berlin (SJZ Drugstore), the band will show on November 19, 2022, how the album sounds live. Attending is a must!!
