Obviously, this is Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, but Nuclear Blast chose to translate their name for this US version. Their German name definitely sounds cooler as a plural, although Apocalyptic Rider wouldn't be a bad band name.
Previously, I was only familiar with the band's first 3 albums. While they were enjoyable and interesting for their weirdness, other than a few token tracks like "Metal Will Never Die" and the cover of "Dschinghis Khan," I never considered them to be a mandatory listen. While this continues the genre-mixing and convention-defying craziness, it's easy to tell from the music, cover/layout, and choice of label that things are slowly beginning to go downhill. Even without specifically classifying their music, some sort of extreme metal mix was at the heart of the early material. There's still some of that here, but many songs feel like groovier, more contemporary metal, and any extreme metal influences are secondary. Also, to be fair, with that comes some more rocking, catchier material too.
My favorite part of the album is easily the 4-song block of interrupted extreme material beginning with the BM-influenced "Der Teufel." "Reitermaniacs" has some nice doomdeath sections broken up by peppy part-folk, part-melodeath choruses. "Per Aspera ad Astra" has a very Morbid Angel-esque intro and breakdown later on, but the rest of the song is more like melodeath with Viking metal/folk metal-style male choir vocals.
Two of the most interesting tracks are the completely metal-free ones. "Lazy Day" is a pleasant summerpop-sounding tune that switches to full on reggae for the choruses. Then "Northern Lights" is an electronic-tinged ambient closer. It feels the most out of place here, but is a nice track in its own right.
Despite my gripes and unfavorable comparisons to some of their old material, there is some decent stuff on here, and the genre-mixing is pulled off more skillfully than other bands that make the attempt. Ultimately, while I wasn't super impressed, it's a far more interesting listen than a generic melodeath or folk metal band.
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