Tropic of Taurus



After having released three stunning full-length albums and a split-EP between the years 1995 – 1999, Ulme’s existence seemed to cease with a stroke of a fist, leaving their followers in a state of disbelief, anger and phantom limb pain, right after the release party for their third offering Green growing soul… in the gala of love. What fascinated their fans, who stemmed from Noise-Rock and partially from the Metal-scene was the juggernaut of their ever hypnotic, rolling groove – the spirit of the seventies combined with the sheer heaviness of the nineties, the painful, longing vocals and the outbreaks of bestial wrath that were second to none. When Arne Heesch started to shout he must have seen red – these moments of flaming anger had a very cathartic quality. Hard to say if it worked for him, but it sure enough presented a reverse - primal scream therapy for the listener. And then – boom – a fight among the band members, who by the way were two brothers and a cousin and that was it. The end. Now, after about six years of total silence between the brothers there’s this EP with the long, foreboding shadows of an old tree on its cover in the mail… It may sound pathetic, but simply looking at the cover can cause a certain stimulation in those, who knew Ulme from back in the day – euphoria and also a good amount of anxiety: What will the reformed brothers plus new bassist give us? Do we still need it? Will it be the same as it used to be? If not, will we like the difference? Well long story cut short: They haven’t changed much; the four songs sound like the logical consequences of “Green growing soul…” A little easier to access, thanks to the powerful yet transparent production of Guido Lucas and thanks to clearer structures and melody. A glimpse of optimism unheard of so far in Ulme’s universe in the opener “The glowing” adds up to a song, that almost spans all of the band’s music: The intensity, the epic flow… “Ungrounded beauties” takes us back home to the dark groove and… here come the goose pimples… here comes that howl. The beast is back and we’re more than willing to welcome it! In February 2012 Ulme announced they would split up again (via Facebook): It's hard to write something like this, but after much deliberation Lutz, Tim and I decided to part ways. ULME will no longer exist in this last constellation. Sometimes negative developments just can't be stopped... Thank you very much for your loyalty and dedication over the years and we will definitely see each other again. New projects are on the way... Since 2013, Arne is playing with Treedeon. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.