EP Review: DIE KRUPPS – Will nicht – MUSS! / On Collision Course

Though my personal preferences for the music of DIE KRUPPS lie within their imperious EBM phase, they carry on producing top-drawer industrial metal in their current triumphant era.

That consistency continues on their new Will nicht – MUSS! / On Collision Course EP, which features those two songs and a series of remixes, each giving an insight into the band’s impact on modern alternative music.

Will nicht – MUSS! typifies the iconic German outfit’s current output, pounding percussion and jagged guitar riffs meeting their perfect partner in the prowling, growling vocals of Jürgen Engler. The similarities to the likes of Rammstein and Nine Inch Nails are notable, but it does need to be pointed out that DIE KRUPPS played a major role in conceiving this genre as well as playing a prime role in the genesis of EBM.

Followed by On Collision Course on the EP, Jürgen Engler and Ralf Dörper – now joined by drummer Paul Keller and guitarist Dylan Smith – show a different side of the band. The rock side keeps a presence, but the strings, spoken-word samples, and high-octane melody show a greater role for the band’s Neue Deutsche Härte roots. But again, DIE KRUPPS also contributed to the reference points of that electro/metal fusion that still has a large global following.  

The rest of the EP consists of a series of remixes that serve to show how the band have influenced a wide range of artists and genres over the years, ranging from club music to dark rock, but even then, each track on the EP is unmistakably DIE KRUPPS.

Of those, my favourite remix is the Wahre Arbeit Remix of Will nicht – MUSS! due to its glossy reworking of a metallic EBM sonic palette. But that is a close call, with the EP also featuring some stellar remixes by John Bechdel and Cesar Soto of Ministry!

Will nicht – MUSS! / On Collision Course is out now via Dependent and is available in digital and vinyl formats on Bandcamp.

Header photo by Thomas Ecke