Week of July 31, 2005
Personnel:
Norbert Breuer - Guitar, Vocals
Walter Sturm - Guitar, Vocals
Fistus Dickmann - Keyboards
Dieter Ose - Keyboards, Bass
Detlev Hakenbeck - Bass
Gerd Libber - Bass
Harald Bernhard - Drums
Album:
Tips zum Selbstmord (Best Prehodi 60.634) 1972
CD: Garden Of Delights, CD 094, 2004
Famous for their eponymous album which is sought-after by collectors
worldwide, Necronomicon came from Aachen, a city near the borders of the
Netherlands and Belgium. They adapted the name Necronomicon from an
H.P.Lovecraft novel and built up a spectacular live repertoire during 1971. It
featured complex heavy progressive song arrangements with awkward German lyrics
that dealt with ecological problems, the threat of a nuclear disaster, the end
of mankind and pure despair. A demo recording of a performance at the Mensa,
Aachen, 1971, was unearthed by the archaeologists at Little Wing and released as
parts one and two of their lavish 4LP + Book Necronomicon set (LW
1010/11/12/13) in 1990 in co-operation with the band. Part one consisted of
previously unheard compositions; part two - of different versions of the songs
that later would appear on their only album: “Tips zum Selbstmord”.
Necronomicon proved themselves to be a band with the same seriousness and
sense of large scale works as the most extreme of Italian bands. Sadly, the
technical quality of these early recordings was on the same level as certain
bootlegs and the performance - a bit rough in places. Even so, this historic
document is absorbing.
With the economic support of a friend, Necronomicon set off to a
semi-professional studio in the Netherlands to record (in March and April 1972)
what has become the ultimate collector's item for purveyors of German
progressive rock: “Tips zum Selbstmord”, released in a lavish multi
fold-out cover, in the shape of a cross. The highly talented drawings were done
by Harald Bernhard and pictured tortured bodies and painful faces, building up
an intricate whole, reminiscent of some nightmarish Hieronymus Bosch work (but
no fantasy monsters!). Few would deny that this is one of the best and most
unique German records of the early seventies. The sinister atmosphere of both
the music and lyrics are evident.
There were biting guitar leads throughout, shimmering, painful vocals, a garage
organ trying to battle with Bach, sudden shifts of tempos and moods, including
passages of more primitive heavy garage rock. For the want of hotter
comparisons: imagine the best elements of vintage
Uriah Heep with the
lyrical awareness of a political rock band like Floh de Cologne. Perhaps
this is the music that Wagner would have created if he had lived in 1945 and
experienced the bombing raids over Germany, freaked out in the sixties and
decided to be a rock musician and then had bad trips for years to come thanks to
the daily news on TV! Remarkably enough, the album was recorded on just two
tracks, approximately recorded live in the studio. It was released in a limited
edition of 500 copies and is probably THE most sought after German record. The
odd copy that turns up sells easily for 1,700 DEM or more. It is cheaper to
purchase it as part three of the Little Wing 4LP box! From 1972 to the end of
1973, the group worked on new material with a revised line-up: guitar player
Walter Sturm quit to join
Rufus Zuphall, Fistus Dickmann was replaced by Dieter Ose and Detlev
Hakenbeck - by Gerd Libber. Some of the new compositions lasted for sixty
minutes! In fact, such material proved to be almost impossible to play live, and
the songs were consequently edited down to a length of 10 to 15 minutes. As
such, they were recorded live in their rehearsal room in 1974. Walter Sturm had
now returned to the band. Little Wing compiled 45 minutes from the only
remaining source, a low-quality cassette. It's only interesting for collectors
as another historic document of their development. The desperation had now faded
to mere resigned statements about mankind's cynical nature, and as such they
were now closer to other refined political rock bands.
Taken from Cosmic Dreams at Play - A guide to German Progressive and Electronic Rock by Dag Erik Asbjørnsen, Borderline Productions, ISBN 1-899855-01-7
Necronomicon are back with a new album, Haifische (2012)!