CD review PANZERBALLETT ‘Planet Z’

One of the craziest crossover mixture comes from Munich. Jan Zehrfeld started a project called Panzerballett in the early years of the 21^st century. If you read ‘Panzer’ and you think about bands like Sabaton, don’t read further since Panzerballett acts in a total different genre. Zehrfeld and bandmates brings together what doesn’t belong together, on first sight. Metal and Jazz is what is merged and leads to an explosive sound that’s brought to life for another time on the new album ’Planet Z’.

With the power of a Panzer and the filigree of a ballet, Panzerballett cruises through a nine songs comprising tracklist. Panzerballett is about instrumentals, featuring real heavy stuff (‘Walkürenritt’) and at the same time unleashes Jazz and the saxophone in songs like ‘No One is Flying the Plane’. There is also the multi-layered ‘Who the Jack is Migger’, a composition with twists and turns, while groove comes to forefront in the complex ‘Coconut’. Probabaly it is easier to open a coconut than discovering all the details of this song.

‘Planet Z’ is an album with sophisticated music. It’s neither meant for headbanging nor it’s an ‘I listen to it in-between’ album. ‘Planet Z’ needs an open mindset, time to dig into detail and a passion for complexity that wins over catchiness. Handling a Panzer isn’t easy and a ballet offers a similar complexity. ‘Planet Z’ is the sum of both. Good luck and a lots of staying power.