The vault
Translated news
Here is a translation of official news that were published by Skambankt on skambankt.com, MySpace, or Facebook, as well as articles published by Norwegian and Danish media. The orginal texts have been published online. If you have an article you don't understand and want a translation up here, please give me a hint.
2007/01/08 Mann: Review of "Eliksir"
| Few bands separate music-interested Norwegians as strongly as Kaizers Orchestra does. The songs of the ompa orchestra from the west coast - about KGB, resistance and everything else that smells of Balkan, gas and bar fights - are regarded with either unquestioning enthusiasm or absolute contempt. It is the same thing with Skambankt, the band of Kaizers guitar player Terje Vinterstø. "Eliksir" actually sounds as if Kaizers had been kidnapped by an MC-gang and forced to play cover songs of Motörhead, The Ramones and AC/DC. Regarding the lyrics, Vinterstø & co have kept the same adopted toughness with which Kaizers Orchestra operate. Grunting about snitchers that will get to suffer, occupied hearts and dark basements. From a musical point of view, Skambankt balance between being an entertaining straight-ahead rock band and a band that tries too hard to sound like their selected idols. "Stormkast #1" rips off Iron Maiden's "Running Free", the intro of the album sends a respectful nod to both AC/DC's "Hells Bells" and Motorhead's "Orgasmatron", while the title track is almost a knock-off of the latter's classic "Ace Of Spades". "Eliksir" is a record that hits and misses, but catchy songs like "Dynasty" and "Tyster" make the Kaizers-offspring land on its feet. So you can love it or hate it. |
