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Where there is a crater, there must have been an incident. Something struck or erupted where there is now calm. In 2012, Messer made a feverish debut amid the seething enthusiasm for punk from Germany and grew to become an influential voice in the post-punk revival of the 2010s – probably because they remain at odds with the present day, keeping an eye on it, touching on it, but not getting caught up in it or letting themselves be carried away by it. Numerous rock bands talk themselves into believing that their stagnation is a good thing, whereas Messer is driven forward by its belief in the band format. Four people – Pogo McCartney, Milek, Hendrik Otremba, Philipp Wulf – who come together again and again, from their lives and other creative work, with new acquaintances and impulses, to balance out what their shared aesthetic vision might actually look like right now. The new album is a celebration of this concept. Probably also because the album concludes a phase of reorganisation that was still in full swing on No Future Days (2020). After Jalousie (2016), the new four-piece line-up deliberately found itself without guests and, for the first time, completely independently produced, with a sound shifted towards dub and funk. What was still wildly proliferating on the last two records is now more firmly grasped and at the same time provides security for further expeditions. A »Kratermusik« has emerged! — Sebastian Berlich
