Across the nine-minute exploration of progressive krautrock that is “Die Schlacht bei Lützen”, Berlin-based trio SEK do what few bands dare: attempt to visualize a real historical battle through instrumental means. Though certainly not the first artist to translate the intensity of a battlefield into musical terms – the galloping equine rhythms of Iron Maiden‘s “The Trooper” being a classic go-to example – a lyrical narrative usually follows suit. SEK bravely set forth with no words to fall back on, leaving only their compositional skills to do the talking.
“Die Schlacht bei Lützen” wastes no time throwing the listener into the world of the song: wide-open riffs, driving drumming from Elder‘s Georg Edert, and piercing synths from Benjamin Butter lead the way through oddly-timed syncopated hits and guitar soloing from Paul Willy-Stoyan. Around the four-minute mark, a beat switch takes hold and the song morphs into something more akin to the aforementioned Elder: stoner rock riffing and ascending/descending basslines from Lucas Kazzer sitting atop proggy snare drum work from Edert. When the song quiets down after a few minutes of this, it truly does feel as if a war has just been fought and the last remaining soldier is surveying the carnage silently…but SEK have one last combatant in their own arsenal who busts in out of nowhere to take him on in a final fight to the death. Another ripping guitar solo, another riff section, another oddly-timed syncopation between the three men, and just like that, it’s done.
Just as interesting as the song itself is its description by the band and how they came to structuring it out. The premeditated mood of the opening riff gives way to the more fractured progression:
‘We did not really know how to turn a battle into music, so we started with an opening riff that is more driven by rhythm and groove. There is a sense of order and structure in this, similar to how we imagined the armies would be present on the battlefield. As we worked through the events of the battle we added parts representing the chaos of battle, slower and quieter moments that allow for grieving.’
It’s a fascinating insight into what could have been a mere indulgence by history nerds but instead turns out to be an artistically sound piece of work. For SEK, music is a lens by which we can view our past, painting an impressionistic picture with sound that a visual medium like a film would literalize. Even the music video – represented by archival footage from a 1978 documentary about Albrecht von Wallenstein, the Imperial general from which the band’s upcoming album Wallerstein’s Garage takes its name – starts off normally before surreal editing techniques take over, turning the initially standard experience of watching it into a surreal, disorienting one. Such as I imagine the real Battle of Lützen was, and so SEK have successfully captured with this song. Wallerstein‘s Garage is out on October 30th via Exile On Mainstream Records, so crack open an old history book and prepare to be transported to the blood-soaked field of your wildest dreams (or nightmares).
