Review: Subway to Sally

Subway to Sally
“Hochzeit”
(BMG)

Metal, since its hey day, has split into four discernable groups by mellowing out (Metallica, Megadeth), combining with hip hop (Korn, Limp Bizkit) or industrial/dance (White Zombie) and simply limping on, suffering from lack of innovation and bad song writing (Good god! They’re legion). The German group, Subway To Sally, have been offering something different. On “Hochzeit”, or translated, “Wedding”, their fifth album, the group is heavier than ever.

They ladle up heavy chunky riffs combined with traditional folk rhythms and elements brought out by well orchestrated uses of violin, viola, baroque oboe, schalmei (a double reed instrument more common in the middle ages), a Jew’s harp as well as the bass and drums commonly expected of rock.

The mix is combustible and powerful, especially when overlaid with the melodic male tenor vocals and superb vocal harmonies. The vocals, sang exclusively in German, present the primary obstacle in breaking stateside and all indications show they are not planning to forsake their native tongue anytime soon. Their fans in Germany are numerous if fan sites on the internet can be any indication of true numbers. Since they have no distribution in the U.S., online music sites are the only way to obtain the album, but for metal fans wanting something new, looking beyond these shores might be the only way to hear what you want.