Sir Collapse formed in 2013 in Neuss, Germany. Sir Collapse combines elements of alternative, grunge and prog into their music to make a special blend of music that is unique to them. The members that make up the band are Lukas Kuppers on vocals, Philipp Krach providing the riffs, Dennis Ozmen on bass and Martin Herrmann behind the drum kit. The band recorded and released their first demo of 5 tracks in March of 2015. The band followed that up with the release of their debut EP ‘Audiofil Citrate’ in January 2016. The band has recently recorded and released their first full length album titled ‘Walk To The Moon’. Sir Collapse recorded the record at Gottesweg Studio A in Cologne, Germany. In an effort to recreate a live feeling within their music the band didn’t track each instrument and instead decided to record everything in one room together. The band also left any small mistakes in the final recorded and didn’t edit them out so the album would be even more true to their live shows or a rehearsal session. The stunning artwork for the album and also in the inner sleeve/booklet was created by Justin at Nepomuk – Illistration. ‘Walk To The Moon’ was released on October 19th, 2018.
“Lower Principals” is the short introduction to the album coming in at just over a minute. The song begins with the tic tok of a clock and quickly delves into a fast paced almost punk inspired riff and sing along. First impressions are everything and this was a stellar way to kick off the album and get the attention of listeners. “Suitcase” is a much slower pace in comparison to the opener. The song has an incredible groove led by bassist Dennis Ozmen, but not to be outdone the guitar riffs have perfect timing chiming in at just the right time and tone. We also get an instrumental section within the song that sees the guitar and the bass dueling back and forth for face time. The scenario works and is a well timed breakdown in the song. The one and only thing out of place within the song is the ending. Everything begins to slow down and just when you think the song is going to fade away you get this un-distorted clean and loud strum on the guitar. It’s not by any means bad, but it seems like a peculiar for the track to end. “Like Me” kicks in and sounds like something directly out of the Black Sabbath playbook. The riffs are deep, down tuned and very doom inspired. Lukas Kuppers vocals begin very harsh in a growling tone. As the song marches on his voice becomes more melodic. The instrumentation on this song is nearly flawless in the way its composed. Again Kuppers vocals revert back to the harsh screaming tone for some of the chorus sections of the track. There are these small moments of isolated bass within the song that truly stand out and show a lot of doom influence. The song has several tempo changes and riff alternations and the same content isn’t regurgitated over and over. “Hey Ben” starts out with the nostalgic sound we all grew to love throughout the 90’s; feedback. The way the vocals are layered in this song truly makes it special. As one vocal starts and another a second after singing the same verse. The vocal approach through this song is soft and soothing and the music is quite the opposite so it makes for a good combination. Though the majority of their songs are groove based this track really puts the guitar in charge and stay menacing for the duration of the song. As this soft soothing song ends the adrenaline cranks up in “The Family”. The track has a roller coaster ride of tone and pace with the acceleration of the song slowing down at times and then picking back up. The bass line constantly leads the way into the gritty vocal chorus.
Sir Collapse have a great album on their hands with ‘Walk To The Moon’. It does have a lot of grunge elements peppered throughout the album, but if you go into the album with expectations of it sounding like 90’s era grunge you may be disappointed. Their sound encapsulates a tremendous amount of groove by talented bassist Dennis Ozmen. It’s a modern and experimental take on grunge with other influences making guest appearances on select tracks like doom, progressive, alternative and punk. Sir Collapse use this experimentation within their sound and several times they hit the nail on the head in terms of success.
