The day pigs flew and hell froze over

In German, akephal is a little-used scientific term, an adjective that describes a form of archaic social organization. Specifically, it refers to the ability of nomadic tribes to function without central leadership, instead arriving at decisions through the discourse of the elders. Not unlike certain terrorist organizations, nomadic societies were thus able to survive as autonomous cells.

It strikes me that this description of autonomy as an organizational principle is not unlike what many DIY bands preach, and some practice. Stateside, CrimethInc comes to mind as the premiere example of a collective that puts quality of life first and just so happens to use music as a creative outlet. Whenever they get around to it, that is - Catharsis, the band that is probably closest to the nucleus of the collective, hasn't released any records since their split LP with Timebomb in 2001, which featured just one fifteen-minute song of theirs, 'Arsonist's Prayer.' Then there's the hactivist collective, another group of free-spirited young intellectuals, better known for the music they released as Creation is Crucifixion. Their last release is now also three or four years old and consisted of only three 'real' songs, though the CD also came with software by the Carbon Defense League and a ca. 100-page booklet with instructions for programming your own culturally-subversive Game Boy games, including strippers and prostitutes (unionized, I'm sure).

While laudable and deserving of respect, these groups are only the most extreme manifestations of an idea that I think is present throughout the DIY and larger independent music culture in its basic tenets, despite the widespread appropriation of the tools and principles of market capitalism. Under this model, indie bands are single-cell contractors whose largest assets are word-of-mouth (now aided by the Internet), tour vans and the music itself. It's by no means a recipe for success, but, given a minimum of dedication and talent, it works and has proven to be an artistically and economically sustainable approach for many bands.

In fact, it has been so successful that it has increasingly been adopted by the social, economic and political culture at large. How many times in the last two years have you heard political figures talking about 'reaching the base with grassroots campaigns'? Then, there is the much-debated democratization of the Internet itself, where groups of one persuasion or another (or musical taste, for that matter) cluster around indvidual blogs and sites, including this one. Who knows, even the knuckleheads in the executive suites of the Big Four labels and their A&R flame-outs might wake up to this new reality at some point. Ultimately, it would mean that music groups under contract with the big labels would no longer represent an investment with a 90% chance of negative return, but independent franchises that retain much of the control of their marketing and output while living off the road, leaving the labels with a low but also low-risk margin from online and hardcopy sales.

However, chances are that if you're young and bursting at the seams with creative energy and adolescent angst, your response is going to be something like "I don't give a shit, I just wanna play!" Point well taken. It's also exactly what the band whose music I want to share with you today and who inspired the above rant did.

Akephal, who hailed from Husum in the far North of Germany, are another case of music shrouded in mystery, just how I like 'em. The only release of theirs I am aware of is a seven-song 12" EP on 180-gram vinyl on Lund Castle Core Records, recorded in 1997 at Bremen's infamous Kuschelrock studios, birthplace of many fine records by hardcore luminaries like Moerser, Systral, Acme and Loxiran. Their exact political leanings are anyone's guess, but the lyrics provide a pretty good hint at where these guys were coming from.

"As long as propaganda turns cries of death into tales of heroic feats/ and as long as domestic security finds ways to justify all of its torture methods/ shit will pass for gold," they scream in 'So Lange' (note: my translation). File under current affairs - the critique of the unchecked powers of government has lost none of its relevance. They get more personal in songs like 'Zeitgefuehl': "We are getting lost in our own fear - escape attempts - self-deceit/ [attempts to] do away with boundaries, that you have created yourself/ Never will you overcome your own nothingness." It seems clear that the 'you' that is addressed here is really the singer himself, who, in other places, repeatedly bemoans his "passivity," inaction, and fear thereof; statements that appear trite in writing, but carry a very powerful momentum when bundled with Akephal's music. Their sound is brash and heavy; the closest comparisons that I can think of are Uranus, the layered vocals of Barrit and perhaps a more sinister Unruh. I also have to commend them on their effective use of samples. Coupled with screams and wailing guitars, they serve to add an additional layer of hauntedness, even if you don't understand German.

As always, if you can tell me anything about other releases by these guys or their present musical whereabouts, please get in touch with me. Below are songs three through five from the EP. I got my copy from X-mist six or seven years ago, but I wouldn't be surprised if they still have some left over.

Akephal - Zeitgefühl
Akephal - Feuer und Flamme
Akephal - Kaleidoskop