I was a little late to the party when The Hirsch Effekt’s 2023 Album “Urian” came out. It took over a year to get around to listening to it after receiving many pings to check it out, but when I did listen, I was blown away. I had the album playing non-stop for longer than I’d care to admit. My Spotify Wrapped for 2024 betrayed this, where “Urian” sat in the #1 spot with a very large margin.
All that to say, their next release, “Der Brauch”, releasing January 30, 2026, is shaping up to take that coveted position once again.
From the band’s press release – “Since their formation, The Hirsch Effekt have carved out a unique niche in the German-speaking music scene. Yet, despite—or perhaps because of—their elusiveness, the band has captivated a devoted audience. Musically, The Hirsch Effekt have always embraced limitless possibilities. Acoustic, introspective moments—where bassist Ilja John Lappin brings out his cello or guitarist Nils Wittrock returns to his classical roots—sit naturally alongside massive progressive metal onslaughts.
Yet between these extremes, The Hirsch Effekt continually create songs that flirt with radio accessibility—almost—because the band steadfastly resists any form of standardization. With their seventh album, Der Brauch, they continue this course uncompromisingly. While earlier works, despite their diversity, were still labeled “metal albums,” this new record explores paths first hinted at on the multilayered second album, Holon : Anamnesis—the same album that fans of VISIONS magazine voted the only German-language entry among the 20 best albums of all time. Der Brauch can be seen as a return to that pivotal point—and simultaneously as a bold step forward. Drummer Moritz Schmidt doesn’t entirely forgot blast beats, but the record demands a new heading. In the end, though, there is only one truth: it unmistakably sounds like The Hirsch Effekt.”