Eisregen is a German death metal/black metal band formed in 1995. The members are from Tambach-Dietharz, a village in Thuringia. History In English, Eisregen translates to "ice rain". By using morbid German lyrics unlike those of other bands of this genre, Eisregen got the attention of German authorities, causing the ban by the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons of three of their albums in Germany. Eisregen originally planned to disband after releasing a final album called Menschenmaterial ("human resources", as in mineral/natural resources, a dehumanizing reference to "spendable" humans), but announced that they will continue to work together. Musical style Eisregen's old albums were more black metal-influenced than the newer ones. The violin parts, now typical for the band, came with 1998's Krebskolonie ("cancer colony"), considered the band's best album by many of their fans. Censorship Unlike regular banning (referred to as "indexing"), which prohibits playing the songs in public, selling to minors and any kind of advertisement, Krebskolonie is not allowed to be sold at all in Germany. The reason given by the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons were the lyrics, which were described as cruel, inhuman, misogynistic and brutalising. The band could not fight the ban as their label Last Episode (which they left afterwards) did not inform them. Interviews show the reasons giving for the ban differ from lyricist Michael Roth's intentions. As an example, an excerpt from the ban report referring to the song "Futter für die Schweine" ("food for the pigs"): "Dieses Lied weist daneben auch Bezüge zur Frauenfeindlichkeit auf. So ist der Sänger der Meinung, dass das Leben einer Prostituierten so gering zu schätzen sei, dass sie nur als Schweinefutter tauge" (translates to: "This song also contains misogynistic references. In the singer's opinion, a prostitute's life has so little value that she is only fit to be pig food.") Roth himself stated: "Die Menschheit nimmt sich prinzipiell immer viel zu wichtig und stellt sich eben immer an die Spitze der Nahrungskette […]. Es war einfach ganz interessant, daß man mal ein Wesen darüberstellt. Den Mensch eben auch mal zum Futter degradiert […]. Das Thema hab ich auch wieder bei 'Futter für die Schweine' aufgegriffen, daß sich die Nahrungskette eben mal anders darstellt, als sie gemeinhin aufgefaßt wird. Die Geschichte ist aus einer ziemlich kranken und zynischen Sicht geschrieben." (translates to: "Mankind normally takes itself far too serious and