KADAVAR

After seven years recording in a dank Berlin basement, Kadavar decided to construct their own studio. “We spent four months knocking down walls, doing all the wiring,” recalls frontman Lupus Lindemann. “When we were able to play music again it was like being released. We were so happy.”

It’s ironic then that fourth album Rough Times is “darker and more evil”, with a Sabbath-style heaviness, Hawkwind trip-outs and a post Trump social conscience. The actual recording saw the band break new ground in that they used overdubs, and even added a dash of organ. “We just wanted to try other instruments, other shades and sounds,” explains Lindemann.

The album has a striking cover image, too: a sunbather with a skeleton face and a scar from a heart amputation. “It’s our generation,” Lindemann says. “We’re lying in the sun, not doing anything about the evil that surrounds us.” WS