American instrumental trio Verstärker are today releasing their new ‘Jenseits’ LP and sharing a video for ‘Hinter Dem Spiegel’, arriving off the back of packed-out EU tour-dates in support. Honed on the sounds of krautrock, post-punk, no wave, and drone, Verstärker’s second full-length – and first since 2015 – is out now via Fuzz Club.
The ‘Hinter Dem Spiegel’ single, or ‘Behind the Mirror’, is a cosmic swirl of churning anti-matter. The song builds on a steady, propulsive beat with a driving post-punk bass line and a sonic barrage of guitars creating a mass of dark energy. Describing it further, the band’s J. Vitatoe says:
“The title stemmed from an article I read about a cosmological hypothesis of a mirror universe stretching backwards in time from the big bang – an unobservable anti-cosmos. The theory tries to explain cosmic oddities like dark matter and dark energy. In this theory, much like Alice jumping “Through the Looking-Glass”, another reality exists where everything is in reverse. I find this idea of a parallel “antiuniverse” intriguing. This concept seemed to fit the energy of the song.
The idea of what exists ‘behind the mirror’ has long fascinated people. The mirror reflects the visible world, but behind the plane, is there another mysterious world lurking? It’s like children repeating a phrase into a mirror to make a ghost appear. We observe space and the visible spectrums of light, but there are dark spots that remain unknown. Perhaps this is the gateway to the other side – other universes, other existences.”
Hailing from rural Kentucky, the trio of sonic cosmonauts J. Gibson (bass/synth/recording), J. Norfleet (drums/sequences), and J. Vitatoe (guitar/effects/visuals) formed Verstärker in 2012 as a way of exploring their mutual love of music. Not long after their debut album ‘Aktivität’ was released on vinyl in 2018 — both pressings quickly selling out following the album’s initial digital and cassette self-release in 2015 and their fast-growing following in the psychedelic scene — they soon set to work on writing it’s follow-up. However, like everyone, the Covid lockdown put a halt on their plans and the band fell into a pandemic-induced hiatus.
As something resembling normality crept back and the band were able to regroup, work began again – album-opener ’Anknuft’ being the first song written after the hiatus. “We spent most of 2020 apart, each of our lives changing along with society around us”, J. Vitatoe recalls: “Slowly, we came back together in our practice space and began writing and recording what would become ‘Jenseits’. Influenced by the recent experience, the new material took on a heavier and even darker tone than the previous record. Curated down to 5 tracks in 45 minutes, ‘Jenseits’ is our response to the modern dystopian world we now inhabit. Everywhere, everything feels on the verge of collapse. We find our hope in the music and art. This is the future we are striving for.”
Expanding on the themes explored on the album as a whole, he adds: “Jenseits as a preposition means ‘beyond’ or ‘on the other side of’, and, as a noun, it means ‘the hereafter” or ‘the next world.’ This dual meaning is the concept that permeates the record. The motorik beat has always been about pushing towards the horizon, the sense of perpetual forward momentum. But eventually, you reach the breaking point and push through to the other side — going beyond the horizon. This is where we were trying to go sonically with this record — beyond.”
Thoughts Words Action 