TIPS ZUM SELBSTMORD

It's always difficult reviewing Krautrock, simply because Krautrock, as a genre, tends not to patch directly into the generally accepted definition of Prog Rock - it's much closer to psychedelia. It also tends to be inconsistent - when it's good, it can be stunning, but when bad, falls into directionless, amateurish noodling that can be plain embarrassing.

When approaching this album, I had to rid myself of all the hype surrounding it - much of which, one might suspect, comes from people who own a copy and want to make a fortune selling it on, and take it for what it is.

What it is, is a concept album by a group of guys who had been together for little over a year, performed a few gigs and, thanks to the economic backing of a friend, managed to get into a small studio armed with basic recording equipment (a 2-track Reel-to-Reel) and release what would turn out to be one of the most expensive Prog Rock albums ever.

So it's with calm ears and a fresh pair of Sennheisers that I dive into this highly prized work which, for those who don't like long reviews, really is very, very good indeed - but probably not worth the £1,000+ price tag of an original. It's definitely worth the £15 or so of a repress or CD if (and it's a big IF) you are already a fan of Krautrock.

In summary, so you can skip the tech stuff, it's a Masterpiece for what it is. I hardly ever make this distinction, as I prefer to guage against the "Classic" Prog bands - the justification is in the review below, and no apologies for the length ;0). Note that it's only just made the grade, but it doesn't deserve lower than a 4.8, IMO.

A highly reverbed and slightly manic voice improvises as if testing the microphone, then vocalises the first riff in "Prolog", which is picked up with a bang by the band, and, surprisingly, dropped in a heartbeat, the guitarist appearing to start it, but then tailing off, as if in shame - or possibly disgust. It could be either, given the subject matter of the lyrics. A deeply reverbed and wah-drenched, partially Hendrix-inspired solo follows, angular and jerky, pained and edgy.

A hard series of chords punches through, and a new, tight, heavy riff follows - great headbanging stuff, but you do have to be able to cope with the rough production and knowledge that the band played this entirely live in the studio.

A keyboard joins in, and we get flavours of Iron Butterfly before the vocals come in - and these are of a great quality, with good tones on the high notes and reasonable harmony. There's nothing new or particularly interesting about the ensuing guitar solo - what is of more interest are the unfolding and very powerful riffs - there's a whole wonderland of stealable material in here for bands running out of ideas and needing a little-known source...

The dark tension and clear layers make for a very emotionally draining landscape, and the sudden ending makes you feel like you've fallen off a cliff.

"Requiem Der Natur" begins with huge, hollow and sinister keyboards, coloured with sparkly sounds, before a mellow acoustic guitar brings us to an earthy and folky flavoured section of beautiful drifting sound with flavours of Pink Floyd circa 1968- 1970, but also Necronomicon's very own, very dark style.

Around 3:30, there is some deep, chanting vocal "Ahhs", joined by mid and top- range voices in a quasi "Monks meet operatics" kind of style, building and building until the recording equipment can't cope. Just as you think the equipment will expire, around 4:45, the music drops into a sort of jazz-fusion style, with the band right at the edges of their abilities, but pushing very hard in order to express the music - you'd hardly believe the band had only been together for a year, as it operates as a very cohesive unit, each member giving each other the necessary space to grow and improvise - successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully - but that's always the case with live improv.

A "Big Bottom" style bass solo follows - although, to be fair, the bassist tries really hard to make the improv interesting and exciting - and succeeds to a fair degree, especially when he gives the cue for the keyboard and guitar re-entry - it really isn't apparent, and you have to listen hard several times to get it, it feels so natural.

The Choir section returns - and it feels perfectly natural that it should do so - framing the jazz section very nicely - giving a masterclass in how form can be made to feel spontaneous.

The title track begins with one of the most original intros I've ever heard - incredibly simple (but the best ideas often are), then kicking into an uptempo rocker with falsetto from hell that makes Matt Bellamy sound like a Contra bass... There are lots of goodies in here, including tempo changes, guitar solos, enthusiastic guitar panning, and a dark groove that would provoke many nuns into dancing around mooonlit fires sans habits... in my twisted imagination, at least. There are one or two "baddies" in here too - but easily overlooked.

"Die Stadt", apart from having tuning issues in the acoustic guitar, smacks a little of early Kraftwerk, but darker, naturally, and the intro appears to be a proclamation - Hawkwind style. When the big riff kicks in, it reminds me very much of Mountain in texture, but, true to form, Necronomicon break it all down, with a "cat on a hot tin roof" approach that demonstrates exactly how to go off at tangents and really mean it. One or two timing issues (!) do not spoil the infectious grooves that they settle into, with the now familiar dark keyboard washes and walking bass lines - I get a flavour of Hawkwind's "Master of the Universe" in places. I'm assuming that the spare acoustic was used for the outro ;0)

"In Memoriam" is so dischordant, it too appears to have tuning issues, but these are soon resolved, and it's apparent that the heavy dischords are totally intentional. Very rough at the edges to start with, this piece dives around, and a mixed bag of good and truly superb ideas are thrown out, with decorative fill/synchronised runs that pre-empt Prog metal. Once the band have got into their groove, this really is a piece that every fan of Krautrock should hear - deeply and highly emotional, yet carefully worked out, with plenty of space for improv. Almost perfect, despite occasional timing issues. The ending is particularly notable, although I have to admit the falsetto annoys me too.

Requiem Vom Ende rounds things off consistenly nicely, despite more tuning issues, which we just have to swallow and live with - after all, it's the music that's important. And what we get from the music is more cavernous sounds, thoughtfully meandering bass, then big, crashing chords of chaos, and over-reverbed voices clearly proclaiming rather than singing, carrying an authoritative tone, but dropping back to a wistful, almost mournful air, carrying a strong flavour of Floyd.

Now, around 3:00, is the most powerful moment on the album, a throbbing, pulsating orb of music that grows (and might arguably have benefitted from losing the falsetto voice), grows, drops, and recapitulates. It's at this late point in the song I realise that the main riff is a combination of "Pictures of Matchstick Men" and "Hey Joe". An inspired welding together, that results in a spacious riff with a familiar feeling groove.

I won't cover the very end - I'll leave that entirely for your discovery ;o)

Here's a clue - it's not at all disappointing!

All in all, a most excellent addition to any Prog Rock collection - which doesn't mean you're going to like it. My advice is to get familiar with Krautrock before approaching this album, as those unfamiliar with the genre are likely to be highly disturbed by it.

It just scrapes into the Masterpiece category, because I'm concentrating on the music alone, and ignoring technical and execution issues simply because of the low budget live recording.

A real mind-blower - but be careful, as in the wrong hands it could be mistaken as simply a blower...

The krautrock style is not complete without this record! Indeed, Necronomicon shows here in what consists a mix of visceral jam hard rock and krautrock, something I have rarely seen so far. Maybe the fictitious term "krhaurdrock" is appropriate to classify this record. The lyrics are sung in German. The ultra omnipresent electric guitar has a very pinched sound that remains absolutely not sissy: the guitar sound is quite gross, especially the solos, but it is loudly played very much in the foreground; there are some impressive riff sounds. Some psychedelic parts occur, and it is confirmed by the presence of a good typical electric organ. This record is good but the visceral guitars often lack structure and sound quality: the other instruments, especially the bass and drums, are interesting but the guitars should have been put more in the background. The Hendrixian "In Memoriam" contains the best riffs, reminding the "Freedom" song. As a comparison, right after the listen, I played Hendrix's Cry of love album, and his guitar solos sound just brought sunlight at the end of afternoon, after a rather dark day.

Rating: 3.5 stars

This album offers some excellent moody and manic psychedelic heavy rock for a listener, who is not driven away by the challenging start of the record. The sound texture of this music reminds slightly the tones of very first Uriah Heep albums, having a lesser keyboard presence and more stinging acid rock guitar in style of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Also the end result is not as accessible as the songs from the referred bands. Compositions are built from strong riffs and the improvisations are done within these frames, so there's no full free jamming found from the album. The melodic themes are also often ran through with a very neurotic piety, boosting the lunatic overall feeling of the album, focusing on aggressive, dark, fuzzed out and moody areas of mind. There are some more quiet acoustic movements also included, but mostly the music runs with a menacing rock drive. I don't understand the lyrics very well as they are sung in German, but they are quite political, and I later learned they are about the nuclear arms race. The singing is not maybe the strongest link in this music, but it has a quite broad scale, as there are some very low vocals, some from standard pitch, some are spoken, some high pitched "fjord vocals" like Heep's vocals were described by some witty critic, and sometimes these join together to build large voice harmonies. If you like to hear hippies to "kill a guitar" in a good style, you are into darker music like Black Widow, and are also fond of continental European 1960's/1970's psychedelic rock style, this classic record might please you certainly. There's lot of enthusiasm in the music, but also some funny moments where the intended rhythms are nearly reached, but not totally, so an ability to overlook some technical mistakes is needed also to appreciate this music. For the vinyl fans there's a LP reissue by Little Wing label released in 1990's in the markets, as the original's price might make you need some "Tips Zum Selbstmord" after the purchase.

NECRONOMICON named themselves after a H.P.Lovecraft book mainly because the themes they were touching upon lyrically were much the same as those in that book. The title of this album according to the liner notes means "Some practical ways on how to commit suicide" and refers to what mankind is doing to the planet by exploiting and destroying it. The vocals are sung in German, and like the music they are not pleasant. The music does have that heavy garage rock sound, very raw with those violent guitar leads.

"Prolog" opens with someone humming and laughing and carrying on. Suddenly the raw guitar comes in mimicking a line he just sang. Nice. Dirty, grungy guitar melodies follow. I'm thinking Iommi 2 1/2 minutes in as he lays down some heavy licks. At one point i'm saying to myself "So that's where Eddie(VanHalen) got that lick from". Organ joins the fray 3 1/2 minutes in. Vocals come in as the drums crash and the guitar cranks out the blistering leads. I'm in heaven man. Check out the bass 6 1/2 minutes in as organ rips it up and the guitar is on fire. "Requiem Der Natur" has a spacey, haunting intro. Gentle guitar replaces it after a minute. Reserved vocals,bass and organ join in this pastoral soundscape. Drums and electric guitar after 3 minutes start to build powerfully. Vocal melodies join in. Nice. A change before 5 minutes as bass, drums and raw guitar takes over. Organ a minute later. They seem to be just jamming here. Check out the bass as drums pound after 7 minutes. Guitar is back 8 1/2 minutes in, but it's the vocal melodies that follow that really dominate. Very cool sounding as drums and guitar fight to be heard. Guitar is ripping it up ! What an ending !

"Tips Zum Selbstmord" opens with powerful guitar leads as the drums come in. What a fantastic melody as vocals come in almost screaming. He's singing now but it's brief. Then the drums pound as the guitar tears it up. A change in tempo 3 1/2 minutes in, then it really picks up speed 4 minutes in with vocal melodies then vocals. Organ joins in. "Die Stadt" opens gently with fragile vocals and quiet guitar. Spoken words as well. The song kicks in before 1 1/2 minutes as he spits out the lyrics and SABBATH-like heaviness comes in. Great guitar 2 1/2 minutes in as bass throbs. Heavy guitar 3 minutes in changes as the tempo picks up as the guitarist then lights it up. Excellent bass. It ends as it began. "In Memoriam" opens with more in your face guitar before it becomes mellow with reserved vocals. Nice contrasts throughout. Love the organ after a minute and later, even if it's down in the mix. He screams out after 5 minutes. "Requiem Vom Ende" opens with some great sounding guitar that is replaced by vocal melodies quickly and organ. Back to the guitar as drums pound. Vocals trade off with some wicked guitar over and over. A calm 2 1/2 minutes in with vocals. This is sinister sounding as it builds in intensity. Cool vocal melodies join in. Back to those incredible heavy guitar leads that trade off with vocals over and over again. Some fat bass lines before 6 minutes. Themes are repeated until we get a few good screams after 7 minutes as song comes to a close.

This is a monster if there ever was one. Dark, heavy and aggressive.These guys take no prisoners.

"Tips Zum Selbstmord" ("Tips to commit Suicide" or "How to commit suicide") is the debut full-length studio album by German rock act Necronomicon. The album was released through the Best Prehodi label in 1972 (the band´s own label). While a band name like Necronomicon immediately makes me think of the occult, and an album title like "Tips Zum Selbstmord" further enhances the expectation of finding something dark and sombre on the album, "Tips Zum Selbstmord" is actually an album featuring politically aware German language lyrics describing the destruction of our planet through pollution and greed, and not lyrics with subjects like suicide and the occult. That´s of course also a heavy subject matter.

Stylistically the music on the album is in a heavy progressive/psychadelic rock style. Heavy guitars, long improvised blues rock guitar solos, a hard pounding rhythm section, and organ (played by a guy with the odd name of Fistus Dickmann). There´s often a loose jam like feeling to the tracks, although the compositions also feature more structured parts. The male vocals are relatively subdued and sparse. When they are featured more prominently like they are on the title track, they really shouldn´t have been, as they are arguably the weakest link of the chain. Occassionally the music features male/female choir parts giving the music an epic atmosphere.

"Tips Zum Selbstmord" features an organic, powerful, and well sounding production job, which suits the music well, so upon conclusion Necronomicon have produced a decent quality debut album. The vocals aren´t that great, but the instrumental jam like sections are pretty rewarding. A 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.

In general I'm attracted by any reference to H.P. Lovecraft who is one of my favorite writers. Unfortunately I still have to find a band able to reproduce the dark evilish mood of his novel, with the exception of the Arzachel's Azatoth.

So forget HPL, I think the lyrics are about his horrors and nightmares, but the music is "just" heavy psychedelic.

So, ignoring "the book of the names of the deads" and the fool Alhazred what remains is excellent psychedelia with more than a hint of hard rock, closer to Uriah Heep or Deep Purple than to Pink Floyd.

"Prologue" starts with the singer making what seems to be a parody of "Hocus Pocus" then it's quickly transformed into a very acid jam full of guitars and organ. The sudden end is an unusual way to close a track of this kind.

"Requiem Den Natur" is opened by a dark psychedelic noise, like Tangerine Dreasm of the Pink Period, but unexpectedly when the noise stops we have a quiet acoustic guitar harping and very sweet and melodic singing, even if still very psychedelic. We are in 1972, but this song seems to come from 4 or 5 years before. The low-pitched choir in the middle should sound weird, but fails in being horrorific. Lovecraft wouldn't have been sad for the death of Mother Nature. A great track, Nobody pretends that the music fits with the band's name. The second half of the song is heavy blues with the guitar solo a bit too "jammed". Not all he notes are at the right place.

"Tips Zum Selbstmord" is even more acid. It's like the Doors have taken Amphetamines instead of the usual stuff. A heavy blues with acid guitar and percussive bass played very fast. It sounds more American than German. Then when the rhythm calms down we are back in a world made of hard rock. The only very Kraut thing is the vocalist. Another sudden stop.

The acoustic intro of "Die Stadt" with the guitar a little untuned is the most Krautrock moment. It reminds to Amon Duul II before turning into hard rock but with a strong krautrok flavor thank to the lead vocalist while the "aaahhh" accents seem typical Uriah Heep stuff. Good hard rock with the bass leading while guitar and keyboards jam. The final return to the initial theme closes the jam in a regular way.

"In Memoriam" Is bluesy. A mixture of Cream and Can. Again it's more psychedelic than horrorific. What is remarkable on this track is the keyboard's background. In the more relaxed moments is quite similar to the mentioned Arzachel's Azatoth. I'm nit German speaking but I have the impression from few words catched that the lyrics are a sort of elegy for H.P. Lovecraft (or maybe for the whole world?). Please somebody correct me from wrong (also because I don't know what the percentages mean in the spoken part).

The final "Requiem fur ende" starts with a Uriah Heep like choir but is more acid oriented. Fans of Hendirx or in general of the acid rock of the late 60s will surely enjoy it, including when they calm down and become very dark and floydian. For a while I've thought to Electric Prunes' Kyrie Eleison. It's a psychedelic crescendo that leads to the third section of the song that's again rminding of Amon Duul II. Here there's a good bass solo. If I'm not wrong there's a bit of chorus and distorsion together on the bass. When the keyboard join the bass over obsessive percussions we have finally a bit of Lovecraft's mood, then a rock final closes the track and the album.

It's good. It's krautrock and it's the only album released by this band, so 4 stars.

Looks like HP Lovecraft inspired many rock musicians. There's the 1960s Chicago psych band called HP Lovecraft, and then there's this German group naming themselves after a magical tome that appears in Lovecraft's stories. I guess when it comes for obscurities and rarities, Necronomicon is right up there, as only 500 copies of the original LP were pressed. This album came out in 1972 with a gimmick fold out cover that folds out into a cross. The album titles apparently translates as "How to commit suicide", but in this regards how to commit suicide is to destroy the environment, which this album apparently addresses, but since they sing in German, it's hard for me to know what they're singing about. They're not the only German band to address environmental destruction, Pell Mell did on "City Monster" off their 1972 debut Marburg, and Ikarus also addressed similar matters on their sole 1971 album on the opening cut "Eclipse", albeit with pretty embarrassingly poorly written lyrics). Funny how this subject matter is still a huge concern, and perhaps even more so now than in 1972. This album is really heavy psych, a lot of it still having a '60s vibe, despite the 1972 date, but perhaps a bit too heavy to actually come out of the '60s. There are some really heavy proto-metal guitar riffs, so if you like proto-metal this album also comes recommended. When it comes for heavy psych, this album really doesn't let up, although there are some calmer moments, most of this just simply rocks like there's no tomorrow. There are lots of obscurities that should stay that way. Not Necronomicon. I bet you this band would have stood a better chance had the '60s sound was dropped, as pretty much most bands had, by this time. While most people might not want to fork out the four digit prices the originals are commanding (and careful: counterfeits are floating around), it's that kind of heavy psych album that's really worthy of your attention!

While some early Krautrock bands were aiming for tripper's paradise and seeking the ultimate escapism to a distant destination far removed from the trials and tribulations of 20th century Earth, others opted to embrace the tortuous pain and expel the rage through a heavy rock form of progressive rock that cast the vitriol out as pure acceptance of the doom and gloom that was plaguing the fast-paced society of the 1960s that had just ceded into the 1970s. NECRONOMICON which took its name form the H.P. Lovecraft novel was the epitome of taking the tripped out kosmische world of Krautrock into a heavier garage rock, even proto-punk style fueled by despair and dismay.

This band emerged from the city of Aachen perched next to both the Dutch and Belgian borders and was formed in 1970 by Walter Sturm (guitar, vocals), Norbert Breuer (guitar, vocals), Gerd Libber (bass), Harald Bernhard (drums) and Fistus Dickmann (organ, synthesizer, vocals). Although the band stuck it out to 1981 albeit with a rotating lineup, NECRONOMICON only managed to release one sole album titled TIPS ZUM SELBSTMORD which lugubriously translates as "Tips For Suicide." Laced with heavy downer guitar riffing, stone cold vocal angst and eerie droning frosted over exquisite bass grooves, punk fueled guitar heft and bluesy solos, NECRONOMICON took the newfound nihilism of bands like Black Sabbath and added the more appropriate Krautish accoutrements with folky interludes and heavy psych organ runs.

With lyrics exclusively in German, it may be impossible to tell for non-speakers but this band was all about getting real with lyrics that ranged from ecological degradation to nuclear disasters. The album title is a dead giveaway that rather than drifting off into la-la land that this band was more interested in looking the atrocities of the world dead on and releasing the pent up rage in bouts of guitar-fueled heft with all kinds of extra touches including Bach inspired organ majesty, unpredictable tempo and mood changes and a sense of melancholy more common in modern day metal genre such as funeral doom or depressive black metal. In addition to the rich array of instrumental sounds, the band displayed a clever mix of angsty hard rock vocals mixed with eerie and spooky wordless vocals that evoked the haunting of the death and destruction which symbolized the global destruction that was becoming all too familiar.

This confrontational stylistic approach makes TIPS ZUM SELBSTMORD one of the most unique albums to emerge in the entire Krautrock scene and with an original pressing of only 500 copies has also become one of the most sought after gems in the collector's underground. Luckily the album has been reissued on numerous occasion with the most obtainable on the 2004 edition from Garden of Delights which features a whopping four unreleased bonus tracks that nearly double the album running time. The dynamics of the album are perfectly paced as punk fueled garage rock gives way to lush pastoral folk and keyboard dueling yields to sizzling guitar solos and forward thinking 80s style keyboard electronica. Add to that nice flowing songs that give way to frenzied time signature freak outs. The lead vocalist often sounds like the German version of David Bowie just to give a comparison.

While the album cover art may seem a little hokey and primitive, the music contained within is anything but. This is some seriously well-thought out Krautrock that nurtures hook laden melodies and then dresses it all up with punk-fueled angst and depressive organ-drenched despair. The compositions are quite sophisticated with intricate changes that never feel forced and how the band managed to squeeze in all the stylistic shifts is a testament to the band's creative genius. This is an excellent little obscurity and should be on top of Krautrock lists far and wide but like many underground gems, still remains unknown to the masses. I love everything about this album however there are moments when the vocals are a bit goofy especially when dude suddenly breaks into falsetto (think King Diamond) and reaching the high notes. Luckily this is rare and the strengths of the album far outnumber any minor gripes. TIPS ZUM SELBSTMORD is just shy of making a perfect masterpiece.

4.5 rounded down

Kinda heavy shoegaze psychedelic Krautrock album in early 70s keeps a great comprehensive impact for us Krautrock / Psychedelic Prog fans. Regardless to say, "Tips Zum Selbstmord" was born in 1972 as the debut album of a German psychedelic hard rock combo NECRONOMICON, that definitely involves heavy, desert-y, dry-fruity aroma in the similar vein to "Yeti" or "Teilweise Kacke ... Aber Stereo". Some hollow, unnatural sound effects here and there make us laugh but possibly such artificial sound hoaxes would have come from their innocent playfulness, I imagine. And the most important thing was that this authentic creation was produced through their innocence and inquisitive mind. There is no so-called weirdness nor Berlin-School-oriented electronika but fine acidity and brain toxicity enough to intoxicate and paralyze us.

Their energetic play opens fully from the beginning of "Prolog" featuring fuzzy dizzy guitar sounds and rough tough drumming plus colourful subtle keyboard seasoning. No complicated rhythmic basis nor quirky melody line can be heard but their explosive power, intensive productivity and unwavering creativity completely swallow us. Crazy dissonance with no-good techniques is also essential, leaning towards "Flesh-Coloured Anti-Aircraft Alarm". On the contrary, the first noisy bullets of "Requiem der Natur" are good electronic prescriptions. Although the combination of keyboard plays and choirs is cheesy and fragile, the bluesy hard rock paragraph in the middle part sounds slightly improvisational, and deep heavy sound avalanches on the last run are quite hyper-psychic.

The third titled track rapidly takes us back to dynamic hard-rock-ish realism. Sounds like every Necronomiconer plays full of comfort and pleasure. It could be called sorta typical shoegaze rock. Not bad to hear that this song has no special progressiveness nor innovation despite the fact the title of this album is named after it. "Die Stadt" is another heavy madness. Mysterious (and poor) scat is quite unique, and battles of keyboards, guitars, and drums in the middle phase are simple and non-ingenious but aggressive and vivacious. Wonderful is their delicious, appealing play. Also fantastic is a rare acoustic ending. The epilogue "Requiem Vom Ende" holds ritual, spiritual feelings even in the traditional blues heavy rock background. Largely hear Rufus Zuphall-like matured vibes. So, it's understandable the incomplete stressful reverberations are bizarre

Anyway, it was very surprising to bump into such a legendary Krautrock album like this on Bandcamp Page. Nicey.