I’d like to direct your attention at Weibermacht‘s cover art, which Century Media describes as “truly disturbing”. Now I’m not sure what is disturbing about a man whose face is being sat on unless one subscribes to the idea that sex is missionary only and only for the purpose of procreation. Unfortunately, this cover art also pales in comparison to the elegance of Alexander Eckman-Lawn’s art for Die Lederpredigt, Folterkammer‘s first album. Toning down the religious undertones and doubling down on (quite vanilla) BDSM themes, I went into Weibermacht with a feeling of trepidation that Folterkammer may have squandered the first album’s potential.
Weibermacht begins promising enough, with a groovy, classic heavy metal-esque guitar line striking a simple rhythm — fitting for a BDSM theme. However, the blasts soon arrive, and the music soon goes into the same template that Die Lederpredigt established — reverb-heavy singing from Andromeda Anarchia, with plain backing from the band. This wouldn’t be so bad until the BDSM themes make themselves extremely known by having Anarchia sing-count while sampled whip cracks fill the rest of the song. Note that if you are a German speaker, your enjoyment of this album is likely to be severely tempered by the lyrics, to the point of being a complete turn-off. If the first album’s lyrics were a bit cheesy for you, Weibermacht doubles down on the domme schtick. I hope you like porn dialogue.
The closing track, a cover of The Velvet Underground (and Nico)’s ode to dominatrices “Venus in Furs”, lays bare the true weakness of Weibermacht. The rattling chains and the crawl-like pace lends the song a sensual feel lacking from the blast-heavy originals, and the see-sawing guitar adaption of the viola lines of the original feels primal and inviting. When the blasts and operatic singing surface on the chorus, it is exhilarating. The Velvet Underground and Nico was a landmark album, and “Venus in Furs” was extremely transgressive, both sonically and lyrically. Weibermacht is a fine album, but only fine. It has a formula and it sticks to it, which is the same formula that Folterkammer assembled the first time around. I’m stuck reminiscing about how I felt about Die Lederpredigt: the formulaic nature belied a great potential, especially on slower numbers like closer “Das Zeugnis”. Instead, Folterkammer are content treading water — some standout moments, but not standout individual tracks.
Returning to the album art, I stare at the face of the woman. Her mouth is slightly ajar, her eyes indistinct. The man-broom is stiff and expresses no pleasure either. The cover is classic Kantor workmanship — well-done, but it feels rote. The mistress/witch seems to be whipping the broom, not out of pleasure, but out of obligation: a vanilla act that arouses no passion. I’ll take my BDSM music with at least the imitation of transgression and depravity, thank you very much.