Einstürzende Neubauten Reminds That War Is Ever Present
‘Lament’ Features Industrial Clanging Sounds
Taking as its premise the idea that World War I never truly ended and that all subsequent 20th- and 21st-century wars can be traced back to that first industrialized global war, Einstürzende Neubauten (EN) conceived Lament in 2014 as an ironic commemoration of “the war to end all wars.” “Kriegsmaschinerie” features EN’s trademark industrial clanging sounds, evoking the mass production of weapons, while “Hymnen” is an absurdist send-up of various national anthems mixed as one polyglot jingoistic song in a Dadaist manner. On “Der 1. Weltkrieg,” a robotic Danse Macabre drumbeat seems to signify soldiers marching off to dispense — or be dispatched by — death. With Memorial Day last Monday, this album brings home the eviscerating effect of the eternal return of the spirit of war, which, lamentably, haunts us all.