‘Because we humans are controllable.’ With the oppressive ‘43’, FJORT from Aachen announce the arrival of their fifth album, entitled ‘belle époque’ (Grand Hotel van Cleef). The first minute takes us on a balladic journey into an unimaginably dehumanised period of German history and draws a cautionary arc to our present day. Only then does the trio play its strongest card: a musical discharge that emphasises what we have just heard. When the following verse screams ‘we have murdered, pillaged, raped, strangled – we are capable of it’ with 98dC distortion and repeatedly urges self-reflection in the face of this horror, it becomes obvious: “belle époque” is the band's most eloquent album to date. 'We live in times of swastikas,' FJORT conclude at the end, and we become unmistakably aware of how close we are to a repeat of the past. On a musical level, FJORT continue to set their own standards: compositions like plays, emotionally dense, capable of both instilling fear and providing redemption.

1. Messer
2. Hertz
3. '43
4. Kalie
5. Mir
6. Aer
7. Rott
8. Danse
9. 22:30
10. Yin
11. Nacht