heavy-metal-darkness: Die Apokalyptischen Reiter | Freie Republik Reitermania

Monday, October 6, 2025

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter | Freie Republik Reitermania | Self Release (Vinyl Box)

Release Date: 31.10.2025

Format: Limited 4x12" Vinyl Boxset (500 copies)

Genre: Death/Folk/Heavy/Groove Metal

Country: Germany

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter have always been a strange beast in the metal world. Formed in 1995 in Weimar, Germany, the band earned a reputation for blending metal with folk, rock, and even cabaret-like energy. Their concerts are part wild carnival, part battlefield, and part philosophical sermon. Over three decades, they’ve gone from underground chaos to a band that has played the biggest festivals in Europe, always staying fiercely independent and proudly weird. With "Freie Republik Reitermania," they celebrate their 30th anniversary not with a simple compilation, but with something only Reiter could deliver. A universe in a box.

The project is split into four chapters, each carrying its own flavor. The first side immediately plants its flag with "Der Freiheit Vaterland," an eleven-minute hymn that sounds like a declaration from the gates of their imagined republic. The second chapter brings newer songs like "Rache An Der Wirklichkeit" and "Wir Sind, Weil Ihr Seid," which carry that Reiter pulse, playful, furious, and always dramatic. The third chapter digs into rarities, remixes, and intimate versions, reminding listeners that the band has always lived in multiple worlds at once. The final chapter takes the journey into acoustic territory, recorded live, where their material transforms into something almost shamanic. Songs like "Wo Es Dich Gibt" or their take on "Ghostriders In The Sky" reveal another face of the band, stripped down, yet still wild-eyed and theatrical.

The vinyl box is more than packaging, it’s an entire concept. With fold-out XXL artwork doubling as a monumental board game, pewter figures of the biblical riders, and even a passport and currency for the fictional Reiter Republic, this is not just music, it’s myth-making. It’s rare to see a band commit so hard to their mythology, and it makes this release feel like an event rather than just a collection of songs.

At 87 minutes across 21 tracks, it’s a lot to take in, but it’s curated with care. Instead of sounding like a cluttered anniversary scrapbook, "Freie Republik Reitermania" carries the chaotic energy of Die Apokalyptischen Reiter while still offering something fresh. New anthems stand beside unreleased treasures and acoustic reinventions, painting a panoramic view of their 30 years together.

It’s ambitious, eccentric, and very Reiter. It might not be for casual listeners, the depth of the box set, the mythos, and the limited-edition nature clearly speak to the hardcore Reitermaniacs but as an anniversary celebration, it is exactly what fans could hope for. For 30 years they’ve built their own world, and with this republic in a box, they invite you to join them once again. "Freie Republik Reitermania" is not nostalgia, it’s a reminder, and a promise that Die Apokalyptischen Reiter still ride strong into their next decade.

Score: 8.5