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Archived Reviews
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I actually had a head start with this album as I was instantly taken by the track I heard off it (which turned out to be the stomping opener "Einheit C") when one of the Djs played it at this year's Infest. That, however, led to the question of whether the German quintet would be able to maintain this quality over the course of the 13 tracks that make up this debut album. Now I've listened to it I can only say yes, yes, oh god, yes they have!!! This is an utterly superb album of ultra-hard EBM that continually stomps with so much exuberance & power that 'bombastic' can only begin to describe just how powerful it is. On the face of it it actually feels fairly minimalistic, by which I mean there aren't that many interlocking musical layers compared to, say, Hocico & while such an approach might sound sterile & could quickly become stale & predictable in lesser hands the irresistable force with which the music constantly comes at you means it's impossible not to get swept up into the musical typhoon time & time again. In fact the rhythms that grace the pacier tracks such as "Gasman", which further benefits from some effective sampled (I think) guitar sounds & the air raid sirens that herald the opening of the initially dark "Graue Front", which eventually coalesces into a typically awesome number, bear some resemblance to Massiv In Mensch's dark-rave style while the penultimate track "Eisenfresse" ups the ante still further & ends up sounding a little like Hocico on speed! For the most part, though, lovers of hard modern EBM will be very much at home with tracks such as the ultra-infectious "Va § Gina" with its superb sequencing, "Aeterna 6" where some very cool spoken female German vox alternate with Elmar Schmidt's typically harsh styles or the initially industrial-sounding "Cen-Die Botschaft" which is later embellished by some appropriately strident horns. What slower tracks there are don't act as a breather as they are no less powerful, you only need to listen to "A Tergo" for proof of that & even the jaunty bassline that, along with lighter rhythms & surprisingly melodic vocals, makes "Ich War So Frei" something of a breather, can't be taken too lightly, especially as the title track & "Leichenreiter" soon get proceedings back up to speed! It's odd that this superb album should have come pretty much from out of nowhere, so it seems (I don't recall seeing it mentioned anywhere before my copy arrived!) but now it deserves all the acclaim it can get so shout it from the rooftops, with a loudspeaker if need be, just make sure that the message gets out that this is an utterly brilliant album & a strong contender for top debut of 2006. |
