It took the band almost 4 years of production since their last exceptional concept album “Rodin” hit the streets in 2014, and now a number of hard working DIY labels, I.Corrupt.Records (Europe), Middle-Man Records (USA), Zegema Beach Records (Canada), Deadwood Records (Germany), are honored to unleash LOCKTENDER‘s new album “Friedrich”, to be released on vinyl February 12th, and available for streaming below! As a contemporary adventurous and quite uncategorisable experimental post hardcore set, this record has just about everything. Listen below, dive into the amazing story of the 19th century landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich, pre-order HERE and HERE, and stay tuned for a full interview later this quarter, right here on IDIOTEQ!
While the previous albums “Kafka” and “Rodin” focused on the works of Franz Kafka and Auguste Rodin, Locktender are staying on the path by this time reinterpretating the works of the German Romantic landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich. Attempting something new, the band has not only used Friedrich’s paintings as inspiration but also managed to tell a cohesive narrative using the mood, settings, and characters from the works. With “Friedrich“, LOCKTENDER are taking philosopher-core, their own sub-genre somewhere between post-hardcore and post-metal, to the next level.
A Monk, at the twilight of his life and overcome with his lack of faith, drowns himself in the sea. “Friedrich” tells the story of this man’s troubled life. The son of a wealthy merchant is shipwrecked on his maiden journey, conscripted into a foreign legion, and eventually escapes to the solace of a Monastery. Here, his experiences and past trauma, gravely, force him to come to grips with his faith. His lack of conviction in every facet of his life – industry, war, and religion – ultimately became his downfall.
Although Caspar David Friedrich was a deeply religious man when he crafted the paintings in which these songs are based, the underlying themes of loneliness, melancholy, and despair are hard to deny. However, Friedrich’s paintings, along with the story of this Monk’s life, are a testament to the fact that with great sadness comes great beauty.
