Following the release of his first composition “The Lovers and Destroyers” with Caspar Brötzmann Bass Totem in fall 2024, the internationally renowned guitarist Caspar Brötzmann and his band Massaker have now announced a new release on the German label Exile On Mainstream in collaboration with Chicago-based art space Corbett vs. Dempsey: “It’s a Love Song”, out on June 20th, 2025
It features two different live versions of his song “All This Violence”, which were recorded in Vienna and Dresden with Saskia von Klitzing (drums) and Eduardo Delgado Lopez (bass).
An originally planned studio album was postponed and is to be realised after the release of “It’s a Love Song”. But in view of the current world situation, Brötzmann decided to make a clear statement with the track, “All This Violence”!
About this unconventional release, Caspar says;
“… after just a few moments, it became clear that the live recordings I was hearing, had a message, a power to reflect on current events. None of my studio recordings had this power… I think I am probably difficult to understand… Words are just a tool, of course, and a means to an end, eventually building a cage I do not wish to step into. This is why I love the freedom of music so much. Music comes along just like that and wants nothing, needs no explanation, demands nothing. This makes me all the happier to write ‘It’s a Love Song’ on this record and that I have done so with my band Massaker which has always been my very own way of enduring the horrors of the world. I get the feeling of having done something that stands up against these horrors and I hope the album conveys not only this but so much more…”
Preorder “It’s a Love Song” here.
Tracklist:
1. Bar Open
2. All This Violence – LIive in Vienna
3. All This Violence – Live in Dresden
Since the mid-1980s, Caspar Brötzmann has been shaping an unmistakable sound – infernal, radical, uncompromising. He unwaveringly pursues his own path, beyond clear genre boundaries. As the son of a famous saxophonist, he found his artistic identity early on and developed a unique sound language that discharges in brute catharsis. His music is not an adaptation to trends, but a sensitive, passionate, almost obsessive approach to despair and anger – and yet full of hope. With his virtuoso independence on the instrument, he is an exceptional phenomenon. An atonal Hendrix, made in Germany (Tøni Schiffer).
European Tour Dates 2025:
28.05.25 (UK) London, Café OTO
29.05.25 (UK) London, Café OTO
30.05.25 (BE) Ghent, dunk! Festival
31.05.25 (FR) Paris, Point Ephemere
01.06.25 (CH) Geneve, Cave 12
03.06.25 (FR) Bordeaux, iBoat
04.06.25 (FR) Montpellier, L’antrouille
05.06.25 (FR) Lyon, Le Sonic
06.06.25 (DE) Villingen, MPS Studio
07.06.25 (DE) Nürnberg, Z-Bau (+ KARLA KVLT)
11.06.25 (DE) Berlin, Bi Nuu
25.09.25 (BL) Sofia, Club Pave
Founded in 1986, Caspar Brötzmann Massaker became a significant force in the 90s alternative rock scene. The band’s albums “The Tribe” (1987), “Black Axis” (1989), “Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore” (1991), “Koksofen” (1993), “Home (1995) and Mute Massaker” (1999) are heralded underground classics, having a profound influence on bands and artists like Sonic Youth, SUNN O))), Faith No More, Neurosis, SUMAC, and Helmet, to name a few.
Massaker’s music is textural, visceral, arresting and urgent, marked by repetitive, hypnotic intensity, and Brötzmann’s signature guitar sound. Caspar Brötzmann’s legacy lies in his fearless experimentation, dissolving boundaries between classical music structures and amplified instrumentation in rock music.
Caspar Brötzmann was born in Germany and is a self-taught electric guitarist bassist, singer/songwriter, and composer based in Berlin, Germany. He has played and toured since the age of 14 with musicians and groups from Europe, the United States, Japan, and Africa. He created a wide range of music but is especially considered an influential figure in the alternative rock and improvisational music scenes. Brötzmann has composed music for theatre and radio.
Often pigeonholed as a stalwart figure in blending rock, noise, and avant-garde aesthetics, he himself claims drawing major inspirations from his love for classical composers such as Charles Ives, Hans Eisler, and Jean Prodromidés. His approach uses the guitar as a brush and the sounds as a canvas to ‘paint with music’.
His albums have been released by Rough Trade, Zomba, Blast First, Southern Lord Recordings, Trost Records, Karl Records, Shitkatapult, Zensor, FMP and now Exile on Mainstream.
The list of collaborators Caspar worked with is long and ranges from classical to jazz to rock musicians, including FM Einheit, Blixa Bargeld, Diamanda Galas, Page Hamilton, Stephen O’Malley, Keiji Haino, Thurston Moore, Martin Atkins, Danny Carey, Massimo Pupillo, and others.
