Album Review – Hanzel und Gretyl “Born to be Heiled” 2012

 

  Hanzel und Gretyl have never really been on my list of bands for whom “the best is yet to come”, so it was a pleasant surprise when Born to be Heiled dropped – because it’s a killer record.

HuG like the following (in no particular order): Leather, Industrial, Thrash, Iron Crosses, Pentagrams, Boots, Military Chic, Fascist Iconography, Motorcycles, Wagner, Sci-Fi, Goth, Germany, Beer. Listening to one of their records is like the entire inventory of your local head shop /Hot Topic was loaded into a blunderbuss and shot onto a mixing board. Born to be Heiled is no exception, and may be their best effort yet.

We begin with “Hanzel und Gretyl Für Immer”, an appropriate and expected piece of Teutonic clank, before things amp up into disco thump with “Unterstützung 87”, the best Rob Zombie song he never wrote. From there, the band mines several influences, including mid-period Ministry, newer Slayer-style Ministry, the Revolting Cocks, and (of course) Rammstein. The record is capped off with “More German than German”, a cheeky Fischerspoonerism that represents the very best of where HuG can take you.

By understanding the inherent limitations of the genre, and not claiming to be mad geniuses who have the potential to lose their edge, Hanzel und Gretyl have, in Born to be Heiled, put together their most compulsive listening experience yet. Zehr Gut! 8.5 out of 10