Endzustand is an EBM project by Ralf Ronckendorf from Norddeutschland. Ralf is no ordinary electronic musician. A former soldier on a mission in Afghanistan, Ronckendorf lost three of his comrades as well as his eyesight on a fateful Good Friday in 2010. Soldiers don't quit though, so Ralf fought his way back to doing the thing he loved- making music. An admirer of old school EBM and acts such as Nitzer Ebb, Die Krupps and DAF, he found he had a knack for the genre and definitely had something to say. Endzustand (translated: Final Condition) and 'Werk des Krieges' (translated: Work of War) ought to give you a clue. Now many musicians/bands in the Electro-Industrial genre (Front Line Assembly, Funker Vogt and Die Krupps in particular come to mind) have mined this theme before, but how many of them actually have lived it?

On the opening track "Vaterland," Endzustand begins as basic as basic can get- nothing but a steady bass beat, then a vocal sample, add in snare (on the same beat no less), then muscular synth. When Ralf sings (actually more like bark-speaking) he absolutely commands your attention, and of course, it's all in authoritative German. (You were expecting something else?) The entire album (11 tracks over a mere 39 minutes) is done this way. Although there are songs with different tempos and sequencing structures, the synth sounds used are very similar; heavy and punchy, with some variation in the drum programming, although that as well is geared to the romp 'n' stomp rivethead on the dancefloor. Vocals are clean (none of that effected/distorted/processed garbage, Gott sei Dank!) but coarse and guttual. Mein Deutsch ist ziemlich rostig, but I can grok enough of the lyrics (some co-written by Natalie Leyk and Manja R.) to tell most of it is pretty pessimistic and nihilistic. Well, that's the kind of world we live in nowadays, boys and girls. So no happy "clap your hands and love thy neighbor" stuff here. We can muster a nice protest scream ("Auschrei") though.

Although this is almost as basic as basic EBM can get, it's potent stuff. And for that I have to commend Ronckendorf. As opposed to the '90s, I don't think there are a lot of EBM acts like this still around. Once live shows start up again, I think Endzustand will be an act to be reckoned with. One thing concerns me though- the possible co-opting of this martial music by the far right. I didn't necessarily get that vibe here, but I could see how some might try to politically adapt it.