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Santiano – Wenn die Kälte Kommt

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Santiano - Wenn die Kälte Kommt

Santiano - Wenn die Kälte Kommt
5

Rating

 5.0/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Excellent collection of songs
  • Very wide range, but still coming in the Santiano signature style
  • Nice storytelling

Santiano became a huge player in the German music scene. They mix rock with shanty and sailor music style sounds. Thereby, Santiano typically books Germany’s largest arenas for their tours. On 8th October 2021 they traveled with us into icy conditions – their new album Wenn die Kälte kommt means nothing but When the cold is coming. I just had to have a listen to the album, which is inspired by the stories of Nordic explorers like Roald Amundsen or Arved Fuchs.

 

Santiano – About The Artists

Santiano have been founded in 2011. They are based in the very North of Germany, in the Schleswig-Holstein state. It is hard to define their genre, They are even sometimes defined as a Volksmusik band, which is a very traditional genre in Germany. The idea for Santiano was by a Northern German producer, Hartmut Krech, who gathered the five musicians of Santiano. They are Hans-Timm Timsen Hinrichsen (guitar, bass, drums), Axel Stossberg (harmonica, percussion), Björn Both (guitar, bass, didgeridoo), Andres Fahnert (guitar) and Peter David Pete Sage (multi-instrumentalist). The idea of Krech was a massive success. Already the 2012 debut album Bis ans Ende der Welt (“Til the end of the world”) sold over one million units, leading to a 13-times golden records and chart-lead in Germany.

The band has never really been successful with single releases, but the albums were almost fixed on the top of the German album charts. Any release of the band made it so far. The three other albums, Mit den Gezeiten (2013), Von Liebe, Tod und Freiheit (2015) and Im Auge des Sturms (2017) have in total fifteen platinum records in Germany and stayed a total of some 350 weeks in the charts (including overlapping time periods). More and more, the band became popular in Austria and Switzerland as well. They made it to the Top 10 of both countries with each of their last two albums. One of their most recent successful songs, though, was Wellerman with Nathan Evans, which has a massive number of streams on all platforms:

 

Santiano – Wenn die Kälte Kommt – Track by Track

The total album includes 27 songs and lasts 1:48 hours. However, most of the second disc are so-called Saga versions, which are a bit more epic and comes with some spoken story parts. Thus, I am just reviewing the first part of the album, which is thirteen tracks and 51 minutes long. The online version typically also features the Wellerman song at the end of the album.

1. Wenn die Kälte kommt

Santiano does not spoil a single second – the title track opens the album with a lot of power from the very beginning. Strings feel like hammering guitar riffs and take over the rhythmic role. The chorus is surprisingly melodic after this blasting start. A song, which feels a bit of dark and frightening. The cold is here – and Santiano is back after some three years.

2. Was du liebst

This time, the song starts with the electric guitar. The song has a typical sailor song touch – but the arrangement around the song makes the song more accessible for fans of other genres as well. Cool sailor rock song… Or however you like to name it…

Was du liebst, lass los
Was du liebst, lass frei
Es wird wiederkehren, so es Liebe sei
Was du liebst, lass los
Was du liebst, lass frei
Was wahrhaft dein ist, bleibt dir treu
Was du liebst
Lass frei

(“Free what you love
Free what you love
It will come back if it is love
Free what you love
Free what you love
What is really yours remains faithfull
Free
What you love”)

3. Heave Ho

Santiano majorly sing in German, but they also sound great in English. I like the hard, raspy sound of this song. A track with a lot of energy and magic – and a strong shanty-folk touch. Heave Ho simply stays in your mind.

4. Nichts als Horizonte

If Santiano don’t play the guitars too hard and have a rather melodic song, you also feel a touch of pop and even schlager in their recordings. That’s the outstanding characteristic about their recordings I feel: even though you might assume that sailor rock-pop songs might just offer them a very limited range of sounds, their albums are absolutely versatile. Nice work on the fiddle in this track as well.

Nichts als Horizonte
Und die Seele sieht kein Land
Nichts als Horizonte
Kommen wir denn niemals an?

(“Nothing but horizons
And the soul does not see any land
Nothing but horizons
Will we never arrive?”)

5. Wer kann segeln ohne Wind

This very mournful song mixes German and English lyrics. The dominating fiddle almost gives a touch of Medieval music. A very present, very catchy song asking Who can sail without the wind?

6. Graubart

Wenn Graubart tanzt, erstarrt die Zeit
Wenn er dich ruft, ist es so weit
Die Wand aus Wasser türmt sich auf
Und streckt die Faust zum Himmel rauf
Der Regen peitscht
Und die Hölle steht bereit
Wenn Graubart tanzt

(“When Greybeard is dancing, time is freezing,
When he calls you, it is time
The water wall is piling up
And raises its first to the sky
The rain is lashing
And hell is ready
When Greybeard is dancing”)

Graubart is an excellent example how Santiano transforms typical sailor topics to a smashing rock song, which is great to sing along and to dance. Traditional topic with a touch of myths – and a lot of fun while listening to this song. To me, one of the best songs of the album.

7. Lange her

After this rock experience, Lange her is a quick song with a touch of a very traditional sailor song. Likely sailors would have done this track with more piano – but Santiano want us to keep on partying. Great song, which could even be great in a small pub. However, these guys nowadays go for the high capacity places.

8. Solang die Fiddle spielt

In Solang die Fiddle spielt (“As long as the fiddle plays”), you clearly hear the didgeridoo by Björn Both. So amazing that even these kinds of sound feel to fit perfectly. The main actor of this song is, of course, the violin. The song is a three minute instrumental track, which is due to the great instrumentation much more than an interlude or the perfect time for a pee break.

9. An’t Enn vun de Welt

They do it in German, they do it in English – but while listening to An’t Enn vun de Welt (“Til the end of the world”), I have to concentrate much more. The reason: this track is sung in Low German, which is the typical dialect of the Northern Germany coast. A cool contrast to the other songs on the album – and a great song to sing along. After a couple of listens, there is no issue to bawl with the band.

10. Das ist eure Zeit

Okay, regardless which song you like most while listening to this album at home – this will be the highlight of the next Santiano tour. A song perfectly made to sing with the band – no matter if see it as a cheer up during an Arctic exploration or a track written by Santiano for their fans. It will work out in any venue, I swear.

11. Steh auf

There are so many very different, but excellent songs on this album – Steh auf (“Stand up”) works great with its wide instrumentation, the rough sound contrasting to the fine sound of the fiddle. So many great songs in a row in this part of the album.

12. Nicht umsonst gelebt

The expedition made it to the target – and they finally haven’t lived for nothing – Nicht umsonst gelebt. A song which is the triumphant anthem of success of this concept album. Needless to mention that this song is another great listen.

13. Ein Leben lang

A song which is looking back in time after being home. A lovely closing track of this album – again, you can just take it as the happy ending of the story told in Wenn die Kälte Kommt or just for any other situation in life. Versatile music, not just regarding the range of genres Santiano is covering within thirteen songs.

 

Santiano – Wenn die Kälte Kommt – Spotify

Here is Wenn die Kälte Kommt on Spotify:

 

Santiano – Wenn die Kälte Kommt – My View

13 songs, short story: excellent! The album is so versatile and comes with so many really good, but also very different songs – Santiano simply proof again that they are a phenomenon of the German music scene. This album is so damn good – the only thing I have to warn you about is: if you give it a listen, you might be obsessed by the idea to see these guys live on stage. Some opportunities are listed below.

 

Santiano – Wenn Die Kälte Kommt Live 2022

I felt that this is the perfect album to start posting tour dates again. After a postponed MTV Unplugged Tour in 2021, the band is back with their new album in early 2022.

Su 13.02.2022 Riesa, SACHSENarena
Mo 14.02.2022 Magdeburg, GETEC-Arena
Tu 15.02.2022 Braunschweig, Volkswagen Halle
Th 17.02.2022 Hanover, ZAG Arena
Fr 18.02.2022 Mannheim, SAP Arena
Sa 19.02.2022 Chemnitz, Messe Chemnitz
Mo 21.02.2022 Erfurt, Messe
Tu 22.02.2022 Frankfurt, Festhalle
We 23.02.2022 Nuremberg, Arena Nürnberger Versicherung
Fr 25.02.2022 Schwerin, Sport- und Kongresshalle
Sa 26.02.2022 Rostock, Stadthalle
Su 27.02.2022 Oberhausen, König-Pilsener-Arena
Tu 01.03.2022 Munich, Olympiahalle
We 02.03.2022 Stuttgart, Porsche Arena
Fr 04.03.2022 Dortmund, Westfalenhalle
Sa 05.03.2022 Leipzig, Quarterback Immobilien Arena
Su 06.03.2022 Cologne, LANXESSarena
Tu 08.03.2022 Oldenburg, Grosse EWE Arena
Th 10.03.2022 Hamburg, Barclays Arena
Fr 11.03.2022 Kiel, Wunderino Arena
Sa 12.03.2022 Neubrandenburg, Jahnsportforum
Mo 14.03.2022 Dusseldorf, PSD Bank Dome
Tu 15.03.2022 Bremen, ÖVB Arena
We 16.03.2022 Berlin, Mercedes-Benz Arena

 

The Flyctory.com Club of Excellence

There are not too many reviews (of any kind) which make it to a 5.0 on Flyctory. Praise the best ones:

 

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