Shamall (which loosely translates as "hot desert wind") features music whic… Read Full Bio ↴Shamall (which loosely translates as "hot desert wind") features music which is a fusion of progressive rock, electronic, rock, pop, and classical. The project was founded by the German musician and producer Norbert Krueler in 1986. Shamall collaborated with numerous different musicians all over the years. Frequent members are Matthias Mehrtens (guitar), Mike Bach (drums) and Anke Ullrich (vocals).

Over almost three decades Norbert Krueler has formed the alternative rock scene by his work as resident DJ in a big Rock Club in the northern part of Germany, as he decided to focus exclusively on his music project Shamall three years ago.

Since the foundation in 1986, Shamall has produced biyearly a new album. Especially in recent years, his creative power was as inexorable, that the latest 4 albums were released as full-length double discs.

He was accompanied by considerably different musicians over the past years. On conceiving a new album, Norbert tries to dissolve mentally from his respective previous work: "...when I'm working on a new album, I always bring to mind my latest work to avoid copying myself. Furthermore I want to meet an intellectual challenge with every new album and get over a musical barrier, which I hadn't managed before..."

Since Shamall has successfully produced italo-disco in the eighties and made formidable electronic music in the nineties, his musical ambition has been changed. As following his own motivation, not to be musically pigeonholed he always tries to bring in new musical elements to his music. On "ambiguous points of view" different guitars and vocals play a decisive role together with monumental sound. Due to the manifold interaction of these elements the last step of the metamorphosis from an electronic artist to a progressive / psychedelic rock project has been done effectively.

So "ambiguous points of view" is a musical augmentation, but goes also back to the roots: the double album contains only two themes, which expands over the whole album in the tried and tested way of the 70's and 80's. Musically the influences of some well-known bands of the alternative / psychedelic rock scene of the 70' and 80' era appear on the new album. A trademark of those bands was their pleasure to create musical experiments and their audibly LOVE to make music. These remarkable signs are omnipresent on "ambiguous points of view".

But the Shamall-fan of earlier works hasn't got to fear too extreme experimental debaucheries: "...The melody itself still represents the cultural heart of Shamall. She mustn't pale beside overload of equipment or by far technical abilities of the individual musician. Heart, culture and brainpower should always be the well-balanced backbone of Shamall. Shamall is just a child of the colourful flower-power-hippie-era..." (Norbert Krueler)