Five Historically Accurate Metal Songs About WWI

Here are five historically accurate metal songs about World War I, chosen by Noise, the visionary behind WWI-themed melodic black/death metal band Kanonenfieber.

The band’s name translates from German to “cannon fever,” an appropriate name for a band whose themes are based in a war notoriously fought in the trenches on open battlefields.

War is such a prevalent theme in heavy metal, with many acts taking a seriously historical approach to their lyrics, detailing specific events and the like.

We’ll get to Noise’s picks in a moment, but first…

What You Need to Know About Kanonenfieber

From: Bavaria, Germany

First Album: Menschenmühle

New Album: Die Urkatastrophe

Formed in 2020, Kanonenfieber’s recording lineup is comprised exclusively of Noise, who employs his Non Est Deus bandmates as his live backing band.

Of course, a heavy-handed theme begs for matching visuals, which the German band delivers, dressed in WWI-era garb with their faces obscured by a black cloth. Noise, meanwhile, sports a spiked helmet to differentiate himself from the rest of the group.

Musically, Kanonenfieber’s sound is largely driven by a mournful atmosphere, countered by bitting black metal to give a necessary push/pull dynamic that reflects the struggle of war.

The new album, Die Urkatastrophe, is billed as an uncompromising anti-war record as the world fails to learn from the worst parts of humanity’s past.

“The First World War accelerated the path to modernity and is considered the ‘Die Urkatastrophe’ (= ‘primal catastrophe’) of the 20th century, which was characterized by wars, violence and displacement. Around 17 million people, soldiers and civilians lost their lives, large parts of Europe were destroyed and unresolved problems were left behind, which led to further violent conflicts,” Noise assesses.

“This album is dedicated to the victims of the First World War, so they are not forgotten,” he declares, “May their fates be a warning for all following generations even after more than 100 years.”

Wacth the video for “Der Maulwurf” directly below and get your copy of Die Urkatastrophe (out Sept. 13) through Century Media.

Kanonenfieber, “Der Maulwurf”

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Five Historically Accurate Metal Songs About WWI, Chosen by Kanonenfieber

1914, “Arrival. The Meuse Argonne”

This song is about the bloodiest day in American war history.

Written from the perspective of an American soldier, 1914 vocalist Dymtro Ternuschakl manages to make this day tangible with the words he has chosen. An absolute masterpiece.

By the way, this song was written when Dmytro slept in a shell hole for two nights to get a feeling of what the soldiers went through in 1917.

Bolt Thrower, “At First Light”

With this song, Bolt Thrower describe the preparation of an assault unit for the attack. The order came: “Attack the next morning at first light.”

The song does not miss its target. It comes over you like a roll of fire. Great.

Minenwerfer, “Der Blutharsch”

Minenwerfer manage to combine insane brutality with beautiful, melancholic melodies on their album Alpenpässe. The song describes the impressions of a machine gunner in the alpine wars.

Front to back an absolute monster of a song. “And blood covers the snow”.

Porta Nigra, “Es ist Krieg”

Although the lyrics of the song are very cryptic, the message is definitely heard — chaos, despair, hate.

Porta Nigra manage to send a shiver down my spine with this song. This almost arrogant, graceful blackened death metal tune has everything to hammer the war into your head.

Scalputre, “To End All Wars”

This is some juicy death metal.

The track “To End All Wars” describes the tensions at the beginning of World War I and the insane idea to end all wars with war. With a clever song structure and a half shouted, half screamed bridge part, Scalputre burn those phrases into your brain.

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