Dead Bees in Bourbon - 2025 - Crystals

(45:26; Echozone)

Track list:
1. Quiet Pulse 5:25
2. Weight of You 3:47
3. Pleasures 4:19
4. Rooftops of Zion 4:01
5. Song From the Abyss 3:24
6. On Your Own 4:31
7. Awakening 4:12
8. Distant Call 4:40
9. Open Skies 3:48
10. Fire 4:32
11. In the Silence of the Night 2:47

Line-up:
Yen Anetzberger - vocals
Ingo Hannen . bass, synthesizers, guitars
Arndt Bander - guitars
Ben Overmann - drums


German band Dead Bees in Bourbon seems to be a fairly new formation in the German rock scene, with the band starting their Facebook page as recently as 2024. Following an initial EP the band released their debut album "Crystals" in the fall of 2025 through German label Echozone.

It is a dark and dreamladen landscape we are transported into on this occasion, where barren and majestic arrangements exist side by side in songs where the mood and atmosphere often strikes me as being perhaps a bit more otherworldly sounding than strictly dreamladen, and with a bit of a haunting quality being common throughout.

While the general style may be described as rock going on hard rock here, many of these songs come with a liberal array of pop music sensibilities too. And while vastly different in sound, mood and expression, my associations frequently went towards a band like Garbage when I gave this production a proper listen. This is, I suspect, mainly due to the pop music elements alongside having a female vocalist. In some ways I'd describe Dead Bees in Bourbon and Garbage to represent to vastly different sides of a similar musical approach: Garbage is more light, energetic, quirky and poop music oriented, whereas Dead Bees in Bourbon represent the slower, more atmospheric laden and darker toned variety of a similar kind of music.

We get a liberal array of electronic details and effects that flavour the landscapes explored here too, in addition to a sometime inclusion of elements I associate with the Americana tradition. And a little bit of a flirt with hard rock being something of an ongoing matter, with a tip of the hat in the direction of the post-punk tradition also making some token appearances.

Those who are fond of music that is dreamladen, sometimes majestic, usually haunting and generally darker toned in mood and atmosphere should appreciate the landscapes explored on this production. Especially those who enjoy music of this nature explored inside a context defined by a rock music foundation with hard rock tendencies and pop music sensibilities.

Olav M. Björnsen, January 2026

Links:
https://www.deadbeesinbourbon.com/
https://www.echozone.de/