Berlin’s industrial-wave mavericks Gewalt return with a seething new offering, Schwarz Schwarz, their third single ahead of the impending release of Doppeldenk. Released on the 2nd of September 2024, this track is anything but a passive indulgence—it’s a full-bodied confrontation. Forget the sterilized dancefloors of contemporary club culture; Schwarz Schwarz drags us back to the pre-commercialized basements of East Berlin, where the walls sweat and the beats hit with the force of a sledgehammer.
Gewalt’s ethos has always been rooted in the irreverence of punk and bold experimentation of 80s post-punk, and this time, they’ve taken it a step further into the abyss. Machine beats hammer away, flirting with brutality, while synth lines writhe and crawl beneath the surface, their sonic violence ever-present. There’s a faint echo of Einstürzende Neubauten here—perhaps no surprise, given the band’s affinity for Berlin’s rich legacy of underground artistry. But what Gewalt truly excels at is blending the harshness of industrial noise with a kind of perverse pop sensibility. You hear it in Schwarz Schwarz as the synths are as catchy as those in Liaisons Dangereuses’ electro-punk classic Los Niños del Parque while echoing The Prodigy and Public Image Ltd, while also channeling the spirit of Front 242 and DAF, and Chicago Wax Trax!
Vocally, Patrick Wagner is a force of nature. Once called “the German John Lydon” by Tricky, Wagner howls his lyrics with raw fury: “Ich kann mich nicht finden, im Wimmelbild”—”I can’t find myself in this tangled mess.” There’s an undercurrent of existential dread in the lyricism, a desperate search for meaning in a world that feels irreparably fractured. If there’s a better sonic representation of societal decay, it’s hard to imagine.
The video accompanying Schwarz Schwarz is equally visceral. Shot in what feels like a cavernous, industrial fortress in Berlin—think Tresor or Kraftwerk—the visual aesthetic matches the nihilistic pulse of the track. Every frame pulsates with the kind of primal energy you’d expect from a debauched underground Berlin rave. The stark, minimal imagery of concrete and shadows serves to emphasize the relentless forward march of the track, its frenetic urgency mirrored in the visuals.
Watch the video for Schwarz Schwarz below:
At the heart of Gewalt’s appeal is their ability to fold decades of underground electronic music into a sound that feels both anachronistic and forward-thinking. They are as indebted to the anarchic spirit of Liaisons Dangereuses as they are to the frenetic energy of Nine Inch Nails, PI, and The Prodigy. Yet, in Schwarz Schwarz, they manage to capture something uniquely theirs—an alchemy of noise, industrial, and EBM that feels both punishing and oddly euphoric.
Gewalt’s forthcoming album, Doppeldenk, promises to deliver more of this razor-sharp intensity. If Schwarz Schwarz is anything to go by, we’re in for a brutal, exhilarating ride.
Doppeldenk drops on October 4, 2024. Pre-order it here.
Presented by Musikexpress, ByteFM, Diffus, Laute.de, Diffus & Kaputmagazin, Gewalt is set to embark on a tour in support of the album, taking their blistering live show through cities like Cologne, Hamburg, and Berlin, where fans can immerse themselves in a double dose the same raw intensity that fuels Doppeldenk.
Find tickets here
Gewalt “Doppeldenktour ’24” dates:
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