What happens after the last chord faded away? After everything is said and done, after the last curtain came down and separated the protagonists from their audience. Nothing? Rebirth? KRAYENZEIT asked the same questions. For all the right reasons: With the epochal majesty of “Staub und Tränen - Teil 2: ...zurück ins Licht” they delivered a record with literally nothing to add.
Nothing but this, mind you: Never before did the enthralling, magical folk rock of this band sound as ardorous, as fierce, as lively as on this album. Without any compromises, the sequel to last years’ highlight “Staub & Tränen - Teil 1: Aus der Asche” is pulling out all the stops. The band is playing as if their life depended on it, is weathering every storm, battling adversity by and through the sheer force of their music and their music alone. Will the sails hold? Will the barge master the tempest, the shoals of life? The sad answer is: No. And yet the band is playing as furiously as never before.
Songs like the graceful “Dezemberstern”, the whirlwind that is “Teufelsgeiger” or the enigmatic “Die 7. See” are among the finest achievements of German folk rock history, carried by a vulnerability and a proud last flourish. At the same time carpe diem and memento mori, requiem and second coming.
The future is uncertain. But as long as we don’t stop to dance, we won’t die. And when the dust has settled and the tears have dried one thing will remain: An album with the scope of a legacy - crowned by an audio book on a bonus CD based on an exclusive novel by bestselling author Boris Koch. A worthier final act for a unique band is hard to imagine. Thank you for the music and godspeed, KRAYENZEIT. You will be missed.
