– Used by a double agent in the Stasi archives. The phrase appears only once, in the margin of a file on a missing mineralogist. Decrypted via the Vigenère cipher, it yields coordinates for a disused amethyst mine in Siberia.
They reportedly met at a performance by Klaus Schulze in 1979. Inspired by the minimalism of "Dinge" and the motorik beat of Neu!, they retreated to a small 4-track studio in an old factory. The result, pressed in a run of probably no more than 300 copies, was the self-titled album Topas , distinctly marked on the spine as .
The A-side opens with "Metallische Tränen" (Metal Tears). A Roland TR-78 drum machine (predating its commercial release, suggesting a prototype) clicks a paranoid, syncopated rhythm. Over this, a Moog Prodigy bassline pulses—not warm, but stabbing . The vocals, processed through a cheap echo chamber, are spoken in clipped, Germanic monotones. There is no chorus. There is only texture. Topas Topas -1980-
It’s a riddle without an answer. A beautiful, melancholy time capsule from a year that was neither future nor past enough. Topas Topas is the echo of something that never happened—or is happening now, twice, in a room you just left.
Tracks like "Paano Kita Mapasasalamatan" ( – Used by a double agent in the Stasi archives
: An explosive opening track famous for its soaring, anthemic chorus.
For nearly 20 years, was considered lost media. The master tapes were allegedly destroyed in a basement flood in 1987. However, in 2003, a crate digger in Istanbul found a pristine copy in a lot of German military records. The ripping of that vinyl to MP3, then later to FLAC, ignited a small firestorm on niche forums like What.CD and /r/obscuremusic. They reportedly met at a performance by Klaus
is a self-titled debut album released in 1980 by the German hard rock band of the same name. Often categorized within the "Krautrock" or early European heavy metal scenes, the album is a unique blend of hard-hitting riffs and unexpected melodic flourishes. Musical Style and Influence