Band: Friedhoff
Album: Friedhoff
Label: Sound-Star Ton
Year: 1971
This obscure German power trio released one album of raw axe-worship
in 1971, then promptly faded into legend. Named after the German word for “graveyard,”
these guys grind out a gloomy but high energy take on hard rock and proto-metal,
complete with hot and highly indulgent lead guitar playing, and no attempt whatsoever
at anything resembling a song for the radio. They didn’t even bother hiring a
singer!
In much of my research on the band, I’ve
seen them referred to as a krautrock band, mostly due to the fact that they are
German, from the early ‘70s, and very few people have actually heard the
record. This is false. Don’t track this record down expecting to hear anything
resembling the endless grooves of Can,
the lysergic free rock of Amon Düül II,
the mantra-like jams of Ash Ra Tempel
or the synthetic dreamscapes of Tangerine
Dream. This is a hard rock record, pure and simple, and these guys want
nothing more than to melt your face.
Side 1 consists of just two songs, the first of which opens slowly, stoking the
flames of a psychedelic jam and building into what is eventually a pretty
rockin’ crescendo. Appropriately titled “Orgasmus,” it takes a while to get
going, but once that jaw-dropping lead guitar starts to let loose it really
cooks. It also takes over 11 minutes to run its course, which should tell you
what these guys think of the notion of restraint. Not to be outdone, the second
cut “Nothing at All” is even longer, though it generally follows the same
formula. A little over three minutes in, the rhythm section drops away, leaving
the guitarist to go absolutely mental over complete silence, covering every
harmonic corner of his guitar neck and digging into his fretboard as if his
life depended on it. It’s an astonishing guitar performance, and if you like heavily
distorted wah-inflected leads complete with relentless pick attack, screaming
bends and feedbacking amplifier abuse, this might be one of the most exciting
things you’ve ever heard. And that’s not even halfway through the song! Soon it’s
the drummer’s turn, as he whips out a couple minutes of arrhythmic drum solo
that was an occupational hazard to most rock fans of this era. Eventually the
full band kicks back in and pummels the message home for another off the rails
jam to close out the track.
Side 2 has a few more bite-sized tracks, and a couple like “Undertaker’s Joy”
flirt with some pretty catchy lead lines. It’s really just more of the same. Friedhof basically do one thing, but
they do it with conviction and a ton of energy, and the playing is pretty
accomplished throughout. Although the record is extremely rocking, it’s got
none of the strung-out brutality of some of the doomier bands of this era like Sabbath or Pentagram, and at the same time not a whiff of blues purity or
progressive ambition sullies their pure single-minded determination to rock out.
If you want to hear some absolutely ferocious lead guitar playing that sounds
like it was recorded in a dungeon, you’ll dig this. If you’re wondering when
the vocals are gonna kick in, best to just give it a pass.
