Music / Funker Vogt

Funker Vogt are a German Electro-Industrial band founded by Jens Kästel and Gerrit Thomas in 1995. "Funker" is German for "Radio Operator" and "Vogt" is a German surname— the band was named after Stephan Vogt, a friend of Gerrit Thomas who was a military radio operator. Much of their work is about various aspects of humanity's violent nature and how War Is Hell for everyone involved.

In 2013, Sacha Korn (codenamed Sick Man) replaced Jens Kästel as lead vocalist after the latter's retirement. Controversy erupted when it was brought to light that some of Korn's work has been featured on a far-right compilation CD.

Discography as of 2013

• Thanks for Nothing (1996)
• We Came to Kill (1997)
• Killing Time Again (1998)
• Execution Tracks (1998)
• Maschine Zeit (2000)
• T (2000/2001)
• Survivor (2002)
• Revivor (2003)
• Navigator (2005)
• Aviator (2007)
• Blutzoll (2010)
• Companion In Crime (2013)

This band provides examples of

• Author Tract: a majority of their songs are anti-war in some way.
• Child Soldiers: "Child Soldier"
• Cover Version: They did a cover of "Get Off" by Prince. No really. They've also covered "Harvester of Sorrow" by Metallica.
• Deal with the Devil: In "Funker Vogt 2nd Unit", the titular character sells his soul to the Devil and together they try and corrupt humanity. It doesn't work... because Humans Are Bastards already.
• Driven to Suicide: The narrator of "Our Life".
• Fan Disservice: "Shaven" is about a sadomasochist who derives pleasure from shaving women's pubes. Bloody semen is also involved.
• Football Hooligans: the subject of "The Firm"
• Gratuitous English: They often sing in perfectly fine English but the random line "Hey fuck you!" in "Mein Weg" (which is in German) is a textbook example of this trope.
• Harsh Vocals: The band's songs are all sung in a rough, guttural voice.
• Homing Projectile: "Fire And Forget" is about fire-and-forget missiles.
• Humans Are Bastards
• Industrial
• List Song: "Under Deck" is about a warship crew who gets shot at by a different enemy ship in each verse.
• One-Letter Title: the EP T
• Obligatory Bondage Song: "Spread Your Legs". "Shaven" is this played for Fan Disservice.
• Police State: "The State Within"
  They can fake everything
  To prove that you are guilty
  They can erase your life
  Steal your whole identity
  There's not much you can do
  Resistance is impossible
  In the end they take your life
  And no one knows you have been there
• Recurring Riff: a certain eight-bar progression appears in many of their songs.
• Sequel Song: "Tragic Hero", "Fallen Hero", and "Arising Hero" collectively are called the Hero Trilogy.
  • "Funker Vogt" is about a soldier of the same name joining the military, then going into battle and getting killed. In "Funker Vogt 2nd Unit" he becomes an evil spirit after selling his soul to the Devil.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: "Survivor" is from the point of view of a morphine addict trying to escape from his memories of being wounded in a beach landing.
  • The repeated line "The world moved on and left me here" in "Thoughts of A Soldier" can be interpreted this way as well.
• Sampling: Shouldn't come as a surprise given the genre.
• Shout-Out: "Red Queen" is one to Through the Looking Glass, in which Alice and the Red Queen find themselves running and running but not getting anywhere.
• Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Für Dich," a peaceful love song.
• Title Track: "Thanks For Nothing", "Maschine Zeit", "Navigator", "Survivor"
• This Is Your Song: "Für Dich" is German for "For You."
• Vocal Dissonance: Jens Kästel has a very deep, guttural voice but is fairly handsome.
• War Is Hell: the theme of most songs.