VLADIMIR HARKONNEN
VLAD SMASH (BLACK W/ SCREEN PRINTED B-SIDE) (POWER IT UP)
Single-sided black LP with screen printed B-side! VLADIMIR HARKONNEN were right into the process of doing songwriting for the next record, THE GREEN ALBUM, when suddenly a wild idea came up: What would it be like to do a special record with short but crisp songs only? Of course with all the trademarks of VLADIMIR-HARKONNEN (Punk, Thrash, speed, melodies, destruction_)! At first it sounded a bit too crazy, but then the songs were creating themselves very fast! CRASH! BANG! WALLOP! Like both previous records "VLAD SMASH!" was recorded by Ulf Nagel at the DEMOLITION ROOM in Kiel (THE CREETINS, BONEHOUSE, SMOKE BLOW, WALLCRAWLER).
You are hearing the band as if it is playing in your living room (can you see your neighbour's lawn dying?).
The basics were recorded live. Nearly all lyrics are written by vocalist Philipp. Some take a stand against fascism ("13 Minutes" is dedicated to Georg Elser), some against dictators ("Butcher Of Petrograd" describes the bloody defeat of the Kronstadt Rebellion by the Red Army in 1921), some against transfigurers of the past ("In The Good Old Days It Used To Be _Worse"), some against colonialism ("White Ghosts") and other against Flat-Earth-Society alu hat conspiracy believers ("Flatties").
And then there's this book named "Les jeux sont faits" by Jean-Paul Sartre which Philipp found on the street and which inspired him for "The Chips Are Down".
"Ram It Down" = finally a pathetic representer praising the band and the live-situation! Not to forget the topic of alienating work, about which bassplayer Andi wrote a song ("Stagnation Is Death").
VLADIMIR HARKONNEN's influences were generated from thirty years of collecting records.
Of course they are speedfreaks. They love HEAVY METAL. They love PUNK. They love THRASH_ As Robert Z.
is saying: "Vladimir Harkonnen are their own steelhorse, which simply is destroying everything that dares to block their way ---but with a lot of love." (Scene2Act) The coverartwork was done by Jeff Gaither (THE ACCÜSED, MISFITS, GUNS N' ROSES_).