Bannkreis (album)

Spell
Studio album by Subway to Sally
Publication (s)	September 1, 1997 (DE)
Label (s)	Vielklang / BMG / Ariola
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	Medieval rock
Title (number)	12
running time	~ 47min
occupation	Singing, bagpipes , shawm : Eric Fish Violin: Mrs. Schmitt Guitar: Ingo Hampf Guitar, vocals: Bodenski , Simon Bass: Sugar Ray Runge Drums: David Pätsch
production	u. a. Ekkehardt Strauhs
Studio (s)	Vielklang Studios Berlin
chronology Fool the demon! (1996) Spell Wedding (album) (1999)

Bannkreis is Subway to Sally's fourth studio album , which was released on September 1, 1997 by the BMG / Ariola record company . Ekkehard Strauhs was co-producer . For the first time in their career, Subway to Sally had a chart success. The album debuted at number 47 on the Media Control album charts.

Music genre

Musically, Bannkreis appears richer, more mature and more energetic compared to the previous albums. The increasing use of guitars lets rock stand in the foreground, without neglecting the medieval component. The recurring proportion of melancholy pieces on Subway-to-Sally albums are Ein Baum, Sanctus and the lullaby, the classics of the album, which are still played live over and over again today, are above all Mephisto (announced by singer Eric Fish as a "soul catcher", due to the line “I'll get your soul, that's my custom”), love spells and less often under the gallows.

Texts

Lyrically, there has also been a significant further development. What was already indicated in terms of depth and cryptic on the predecessor, is continued here by main writer Bodenski .

Mephisto is written from the devil's point of view, the piece describes his power and his abilities, offers every person what he wants in exchange for his soul like the “ Faust ” from Goethe 's work of the same name.

Under the gallows describes very vividly and vividly the last walk of someone to be hanged , whose awareness of being immortal through his songs cannot be broken. The text of the song is clearly based on the poem "Yorick als Gypsy" by Friedrich Nietzsche and partly taken over.

A tree is concerned with the question of how you feel good when you have leaves and roots - the world from the perspective of a tree.

The riddle asks the question “Do you know who I am?” In the chorus. In each verse, a different “person” is probably portrayed. So in the first stanza God could be the answer to the question of whether one knows who he is. Lines like: “Shepherd of your flock” , “I am the nameless light” and “I am in the breath and in the wind” support this assumption. The second stanza, however, seems to represent the devil / Mephisto . Lines that indicate: "The snake fell to the ground" , "A harlequin with an evil eye" and "I come as a youth and as a woman" . The second stanza is also the one that is the most difficult to interpret, since some of the lines of the text could also apply to God: “My kingdom and my time is coming” and “I am sitting on the throne of the world” , which is perhaps intended to indicate that both "persons" are united in one entity. The third stanza is, again more clearly, about people: “I am made of dust and clay” and “An animal that mourns and laughs” .

Crucifix asks questions to the wooden Jesus , such as why he is still hanging up there (as an example the verse “The crown of thorns adorns your hair, your flesh has a thousand wounds - they have, by God, indeed, tormented you long enough! ")

A philosophical consideration of the passage of time is too late . Liebeszauber describes a ritual for conquering the loved one, which is told like a fairy tale and accordingly cannot do without an " abracadabra " in the refrain .

The element of crime is initially a small tribute to one of Bodenski's favorite bands at the time, Element of Crime . The content is about open questions that are asked of a woman who has been killed by her husband. This song is thematically based on the drama fragment Woyzeck , in which the soldier Woyzeck murders his lover Marie.

The last lullaby is a tender love ballad that sounds fragile due to its sparse instrumentation, which is composed of lines like "A stone lies on my tongue and grass cuts deep into my skin - the night looks at us with a thousand eyes - come and sleep with me ..." Wants to evoke sadness and longing.

All, psallite cum luya and Sanctus are sacred songs in Latin.

Almost all the songs on the album were also included as acoustic versions on the later live record and DVD Nackt , only Too Late and Syrah were not played.

Track list

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Spell   DE 47 09/15/1997 (2 weeks)

1. All, psallite cum luya
2. Mephisto
3. Under the gallows
4. A tree
5. The riddle
6. crucifix
7. Sanctus
8. Too late
9. Love spell
10. Element of crime
11. Lullaby
12. Syrah

illustration

The picture on the front of the CD shows a ring of thorns. In this ring there is a being that shows several abnormalities. On the one hand, it has horns, which serve as a symbol for the band and have shaped the images of many albums. Furthermore, it has no hands, but sickles. This being has a tail that is about 20% of the length of the being itself. Furthermore, this being does not seem to have a fixed structure, but rather appears to the observer as gelatinous. This being is rooted on the horns and on the legs with the circle of thorns. The face of this being can be described as an oval, in which a V-shaped depression finds its place. In the V-shaped recess there are two “slits” that appear as eyes. The being is rather light orange, while the ring of thorns is orange.

The back of the CD shows the 7 members of the band who worked on this album in a vaulted cellar.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Nietzsche
2. ↑ musicline.de: Subway To Sally in the German album charts ( Memento of the original from December 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.