The formation of the West German power metal scene and the question of a ‘Teutonic’ sound

Abstract

Despite being one of the oldest and largest metal nations, little research on metal music from Germany exists. This article focuses on the formation of the West German power metal scene. This subgenre was one of the first to be played in Germany, and bands such as Helloween, Running Wild, Gamma Ray and Blind Guardian produced a characteristic German sound that was to become famous worldwide. Based on interviews with music producers, musicians, journalists and academics, this study analyses stylistic musical features of (German) power metal, the artists’ influences and their different aspirations for international success. The findings suggest that a characteristic German power metal sound emerged in the 1980s and 1990s that might be called ‘Teutonic’. Germany was amongst the first countries to burst out countless successful power metal bands before the genre spread to other parts of the world. No standards existed in those days, and production resources were limited and individual. This restricted infrastructure – the unique characteristics of a few recording studios along with the small circle of professional musicians, engineers and producers – has shaped the classic German power metal sound. With standardization of production resources, new techniques and consequences of globalization such as internationally operating record labels, American culture in public media and increased English language skills, these national characteristics gradually diminished.

Teutonic Metal: Effects of Place- and Mythology-based Labels on Record Production

“…(since 1981) and Metal Hammer (since 1983) and the German Rock Hard (since 1983) andMetal Hammer (since 1983). From the outset, British magazines drew on place-based labels (Karjalainen, 2018), whereas German media avoided them until the 1990s (Herbst, 2019(Herbst, , 2020a. As per Karjalainen (2018: 4), British journalists did not use location language to address the traditionally dominant metal countries, the US and UK, but to highlight other countries as 'unusual, exotic and perhaps interesting'.…”

“…These differences also show in production aesthetics. While many American metal productions feature the snare drum accentuating the backbeat, European productions commonly have a more pronounced kick drum that emphasises all downbeats (see Herbst, 2019).…”

“…Since Bauerfeind never owned a studio, he usually chose one from the several recording studios that supported the Prussian 'war sound' concept by their acoustics (see Herbst, 2019). Black Hand Inn (1994) was recorded at Vox Klangstudio in Bendestorf, an old movie theatre with a controlled reverberated sound.…”

“…Studios in Gelsenkirchen, which had smaller and less ambient live rooms than Vox Klangstudio. The stairways, though, provided a reflection chamber with pure ferroconcrete walls that produced a thundering drum sound characteristic of Teutonic metal bands, such as Gamma Ray, Rage, Axel Rudi Pell and Sodom (see Herbst, 2019).…”

The Recording Industry as the Enemy? A Case Study of Early West German Metal Music

“…At this point, two main employees, Bruno Wendel and Günter Körber, left Kaiser to open their own labels for German progressive rock, Brain and Sky. They released the first albums of hard rockers Scorpions and Accept, fostering the early careers of bands that would become the figureheads of German proto-metal (Herbst 2019). Kaiser became a laughing stock for his LSD-influenced marketing campaigns and eventually had to declare bankruptcy in 1975.…”