2025.02.16 EISBRECHER + Heldmaschine - Elysée Montmartre
You had to be at the Élysée Montmartre tonight to attend the show of Eisbrecher. German industrial metal was back in the capital, and the audience was not disappointed. Singer Alex Wesselsky took advantage of the few minutes before the start of the show to speak to the audience in French and distribute some small teddy bears, the band's mascot.
The opening band was Heldmaschine, a German band also part of Neue Deutsche Härte but with a slightly more electronic sound. The band consists of René Anlauff on vocals, Marco Schulte on bass, Eugen Leonhardt and Tobias Kaiser on guitars, and Dirk Oechsle on drums.
Arriving on a rolling platform wearing light-up helmets, they performed a series of songs, most of which were from their latest album, "Eiszeit." It's clear that with songs like "Schlag mich" and "Webterrorist", the room was heated has hell. Being in the musical tradition of Eisbrecher, the band has now won new fans among the French public (myself included ;-), who appreciated the dynamism of the band members.
At 7:45 pm, it was Eisbrecher's turn to take the stage to thunderous applause. From the first notes, the atmosphere gradually built with a rapid intro followed by the energetic track "Everything is Wunderbar." The setlist mainly mixed new tracks from their latest album, "Kaltfront," with essential classics from previous albums, including "Schock," released in 2015.
Throughout the evening, Alex Wesselsky played with the audience and photographers. Regular breaks punctuated the concert, during which he spoke a few words in French, always amazed to see that many people in the audience understood German. He even sang the beginning of a Marseillaise in a lalalaaaa voice, which the audience quickly transformed into a real Marseillaise with the lyrics. We also had a short acoustic session with Jürgen on guitar.
The stage was split into two levels, allowing for a good view of all the band members. The guitarists, Jürgen and Micki (the band's newest addition), as well as bassist Ruppert, regularly changed places on stage. Only drummer Achim remained in the center, overlooking the stage. He even gave us a superb solo from his headland.
The only downside was that I was expecting a setlist featuring tracks from recent albums "Schickalsmelodien" and "Liebe macht Monster," two albums I love. But don’t misunderstand me, this was the best concert I've had so far this year!
In conclusion, the band Eisbrecher is still going strong, and that's a real boost. The next date in France for those lucky enough to have a Hellfest ticket : they'll be performing at the Temple on Sunday, June 22nd at 11 p.m.
