| Artist |
| Kaos-Frequenz |
| Title |
| Never Ending Torture |
| Format/Cat |
| CD SONXCD012 |
| Label |
| Sonic-X |
| Style |
| Dark EBM |
| Date of review |
| 1st November 2009 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 7/10 |
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Just a look at the title & a quick glance at the cover, featuring Torsten Kroke (for it is he) in black latex bodysuit & mask pretty much gives the game away as it what this album is about before you even listen to it. So, if you're a fan of Suicide Commando & the like you can stop reading now & make this your next purchase as it brings you all the harsh vocals (in German natch), pounding beats & dark melodics you could ever wish for. Luckily, KF is one of the better newcomers with plenty of exciting tunes to tempt the hard electro fan & boasting a crisp production that brings out the power of such hard-hitting tracks as the punchy opener 'Blood Game', 'Kaltes Verlangen' & the furious closer 'Terror Night' to name just three, as well as the excellent 'Death Train' which benefits from some truly excellent riffs that make this one of the album's highlights (just ignore the dodgy title, OK?). As mentioned earlier, the power contained in these tracks elevates this album above certain other newcomers; a lot of the credit for this goes to Thomas Steuer's production, the importance of which cannot be underestimated; the ultra-powerful but crystal clear rhythms that underpin 'When the Angels burn' (their dodgy capitalisation, not mine!) in particular proving that his fee was obviously money well spent! This is one of the few tracks that actually moves away from the dancefloor concerns of the rest of the album into more atmospheric/impressionistic styles which can prove tricky for some artists but Kroke handles it all very well giving the album greater depth & versatility (more of this sort of stuff on future releases would enhance such attributes still further!); I suppose 'Killing Dog' with its repetitive abstract noise & hardfloor elements could be said to do the same but, like most of its ilk, it quickly loses its appeal in the cold light of day. Overall, though, this album manages the balancing act of being dancey & an enjoyable home listen pretty well &, as such, is well worth checking out if you're a hard EBM fan.
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