V (CD ) | Der W

Digipak-versio.

Finally: After six years, DER W presents a new album! 'V' joins the highly successful, but uncompromising discography of Stephan Weidner, the head of DER W and lyricist of the Böhsen Onkelz. It took too long, but a lot has happened in Stephan Weidner's life as well. Some glorious, some triumphant, not everything was good, but many things were very intense. The 12 tracks of 'V' are the echo of a loud recent past. Emotions are greater than crises. Weidner and guitarist Dirk Czuya turned them into music. The sound of a life becomes the soundtrack for a new and better one. 'In times like these, it sometimes feels wrong to feel good, but I feel good,' says Weidner. 'Life has taught me to endure it and never question it. The desire that arises from it, I burn in my writing.'

Following the predecessor 'IV' from 2016, Weidner had two number-one albums with the Böhsen Onkelz and performed at the country's biggest arenas in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators. Eventually, after intensely musical and personal years, everything suddenly comes to a halt and things change for everyone. Windows close while doors open and new ideas nestle in. So much turns out differently than planned and hoped for. But in the end, it will be good for DER W and 'V.'

The oldest ideas that made it to 'V' date back to 2019, and from then on, everything grew and came together. Guitarist Dirk Czuya, in particular, enhanced Weidner's ideas. They developed the album together in Weidner's studio in Ibiza during joint sessions. 'There are worlds between the first demos and how everything sounds after the 'Czuya sessions',' Weidner raves about the guitarist who has been part of DER W since the sold-out Tour for the gold-certified debut 'Schneller, höher, Weidner.' 'Dirk takes our songs to another level.' Michael Mainx, who has been by Weidner's side in the studio for over 25 years, accompanied the creation of 'V' from almost the beginning during the recordings and later during the mix.

'To our luck, the exchange was not at all digital but, on the contrary, very personal,' Weidner reports on the sprint finish during the time of Corona. 'Dirk and Micha lived in my house during the sessions, and we ate and worked together and basically hung out with each other 24/7.' The thought of quietly burying DER W never existed.

In terms of lyrics on 'V,' Weidner addresses those whose path is difficult and extends a hand to those whose story starts in the struggle - like his own. 'What stands still is dead. What moves, lives. It doesn't matter where you come from, only where you're going,' Weidner programmatically writes in the fast-paced 'Das Lied vom Blut' (The Song of Blood). Luckily, the future is not set in stone. There will always be free will - and at the same time, something mysterious in life. 'V' is the logical consequence, and it represents more than just the fifth studio album by DER W since 2008. In numerology, the number five stands for loyalty, freedom, and the ability to bring about change. Everything is in the spirit of 'V.'

They have always been his favorite topics: breaking out of the shadow into a better world and continually expanding consciousness. Accomplishing it with one's own strength for one's own vision. That it doesn't always turn out well can also be heard on 'V.' It is sometimes a battle, mostly with oneself. DER W turns the internal battle into music, sometimes brutal, sometimes reduced. Weidner does not want to be pigeonholed with 'V.' With 'Kosmogenesis,' a six-minute declaration of love is featured on the album, which appears almost opulent. An anthem to the universe, to humanity, to his own daughter, and above all to love. Without the latter, there is nothing. Those who listen feel it. At times, 'V' picks up where the dark, but immensely successful debut 'Schneller, höher, Weidner' left off. But in the end, a bright light shines on 'V.' It is about renewal, not collapse. 'V' wants to heal, liberate, and strengthen. While the world goes crazy, one is oneself the best and most important ally.