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D r a w s M e t a l A c r o s s Y o u r W r i s t s
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During any exploratory venture, discovering the truth hidden beneath the surface can be shocking, upsetting and painful. All three directly apply after investigating the dark soul known as Jürgen Bartsch of Germany's Dark Metal warriors Bethlehem. Even with their pheonomenal new release S.U.i.Z.i.D. Sardonic Ruin in the Sign of Irreligious Performance gaining international acclaim with its strong songwriting, musicianship and new vocalists Cathrin Campen and Marco Kehren, it's not enough. The background behind this triumphant release is a scarred, hurt beast begging for the end. The bassist explained in detail the trials and tribulations he and the original guitarist Klaus Matton have endured throughout their lives and careers. The stories he relayed unnerved me considerably. Family, friends and girlfriends committing suicide or passing from drug overdoses and cancer, intense mental and physical breakdowns and continuous plaguing nightmares are only the lid to this mental coffin of grey clouds and death. "Bethlehem exists as our safety valve to release our depression and pain", he said. Bartsch draws much of his musical and lyrical inspiration from "a dream-like state" he often regresses to called "the Alexander World", which has haunted him since his early youth. He explained one recurring abstract nightmare that plagued his childhood. "[The dream] took place in a large, dirty and dark room. There was no furniture, except as large simple table without any ornamentation. It stood in front of a fireplace and a strange creature made of matches danced to a sick and bizarre melody", he said. "Together with the archangels Gabriel and Michael, I watched the creature dance until it inflamed in an ear splitting raising of that melody. During this ceremony both angels spoke. Gabriel said "Frisch Loraine elf krank", which in English means "Fresh Loraine Eleven Sick". I once saw that sentence when I was a child visiting my mother's aunt in the mountains. We stayed in a hotel which burned down the night we stayed. Three persons died that night and two later in the hospital. We were saved by firemen, but the last I remember was seeing flames "walking" over the carpet. They seemed to smile: quite friendly. The fire showed me a sentence which was "Fliehe Leben erlange Kalte". In English it means "Flee Life, Reach Coldness". Today many years later. I recognize that I wrote one title on S.U.i.Z.i.D. the wrong way. It should be "Durch Berürhung meiner Nemesis", which means "Through stained touch of my Nemesis". But I wrote "Durch be This odd perception precedes the controversial slant Bethlehem
has projected since the beginning with their first 333 copies demo.
Outraged parents have waged war against Bethlehem through phone harrasment
and complaining to local police for over five years now. This extended
to their live gigs where, "in different German cities, we were banned
when city officials found it was
Article by Kurt Hubert. Published in Red Stream Mailorder Catalog, 1998. |
