MINENWERFER - Der Rote Kampfflieger MCD

Since their formation in 2007, MINENWERFER have pursued a proud 'n' pure vision of black metal idiosyncratically focused on World War I - idiosyncratic, in the sense that the band hail from America but mostly sing in German. What has resulted is a startlingly accomplished canon that has quietly built itself into prolific proportions, with their first album arriving in 2010, followed by albums in 2012 and 2019, and a slew of split releases and EPs in the interim.

Of those many short-length releases, Der Rote Kampfflieger is the oldest and perhaps most curious. Here, MINENWERFER offered the new track “Ace of Aces,” the reworked “Albatros in Flammen,” and two very surprising covers: deep martial industrial artist Striider's “Schüzengraben” and legendary shredder Yngwie J. Malmsteen's early scorcher “I am a Viking.” MINENWERFER for sure have their own identifiable sound, but they're not afraid to push it in strange directions from time to time