| Artist |
| Painbastard |
| Title |
| Kriegserklaerung |
| Format/Cat |
| 2CD A 121 |
| Label |
| Accession Records |
| Style |
| Bombastic EBM |
| Date of review |
| 11th July 2010 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 8/10 |
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If you're at all familar with Alex P's work then you'll pretty much know what to expect here; that is, a robust, rather bombastic EBM style, the power of which is emphasised yet further by the emotive edge that infuses the music. It's a formula that has served Alex well in the past & which delivers once again on this latest release. Having said that, there are likely to be a few raised eyebrows over the opening 'Rebellion Des Gewissens' where the initial serenity is reminscent of VNV at their most epic (or pompous, if you prefer) until the increasingly frantic German rant makes for an increasingly chilling counterpoint. It actually acts as a nice intro & sets the scene for the rest of the album to bulldoze its way into your brain, starting with 'BCM' which soon proves a solid & dynamic opener, despite the reuse of the Dalek 'exterminate, annhiliate, destroy' sample; it was fun when Rotersand did it, here, it sounds like he's trying too hard! Still, there are a number of stand-out tracks here, including the pacey but muscular epic that is 'War Never Changes' & the overwhelmingly powerful 'Silent Death' which boasts as much strength, emotion & excitement as you could ever wish for while the title track brings PB's more melodic style to the fore as it unfolds from its stately beginning towards its rhythmic ending, the relatively restrained mood making for a welcome change of pace. Another plus point is that Alex varies his vocal styles more than usual here with the shouted styles adding a kind of punky organic feel to such tracks as the appropriately punchy 'Fuck U All', 'Widerstand' & 'Invisible' & thus providing a more expressive compliment to the music while the tuneful vocals of 'Don't Wake Me Up' are so different, bearing a resemblance to Tom Shear, that I had to check it was actually Alex doing them! This is something he should definitely do more of in future although Coinside's Torsten B., whose deep voice does the honours on 'Klare Worte', adds another facet to the album which is probably PB's most solid release to date. Furthermore, if you get the limited double there's a disc of unreleased archive material to get your teeth into. For the most part, it all sounds a little on the loose side, as demo material often does, as well as a bit clean, lacking the power that later became such an essential part of the Painbastard sound. There are a few worthwhile offerings in there, though in the form of 'A Piece Of Hell', the lively '23/05/1999' & the emotive 'Don't Ask Me Why' while 'Forgive Me', which dates from 2001 will appeal to those who enjoyed PB's debut Skin On Fire & 'Frozen Emotions' may well appeal to Diary Of Dreams' fans, believe it or not!
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