Archived Reviews

Artist KreuzDammer Title n/a Format/Cat 4 track demo CD Label: Self produced Style Industrial Date of review June 2005 Reviewer Keith Elcombe Rating 7/10 Back to top

Another day, another demo disc. Pick up the envelope and examine the disc. Read the blurb enclosed with it and some names catch my eye – Graham Raynor (founder of Cubanate), Armalyte Industries… hang on, this could be good… Well, this is typically Industrial Metal, with a healthy dose of electro thrown in for good measure. I have to say, that despite the sound quality on the Demo disc being pretty crap, the music DOES stand out, and is enough to make you want to listen to it. Track one, ‘Massacre’ is a bullet to the head affair of driving guitars and banging drum machine. Crank this up at a club and no doubt the dance floor will start to fill with writhing bodies. We’re off to a good start here. ‘De-humanise’ follows, and I’m sure that this is either a cover, or I’ve heard it before somewhere ages ago. Again this is an electro drenched guitar fuelled affair. Distorted vocals add a slightly sinister edge to this track, making it just ‘work’. If there’s one thing that can be said for KreuzDammer, they know their stuff, musically. The sound is tight and well constructed. The vocals work with the music, instead of fighting it, and the tunes are easy to get on with. Okay, they add nothing new to the genre as a whole, but they do bring along some quality material that if nothing else, will keep the scene going for a good while yet. The third track on this demo is a live version of ‘Moneyshot’ – it’s okay I guess, but the sound quality is dreadful. In my mind, putting live tracks on demos is never a good idea. Despite showing that your band can play live, it does little to impress… unlike the mix ‘break or die’ which is the final tack on this disc. This is a well mixed track, and very easy to get into. Again, the electronic mixing on here gives it a well-worked club edge. Reminiscent of the Prodigy in places, this is a large chunky number of a track that helps put KreuzDammer on the map. What we need now is a full-length album to review. I for one am looking forward to it. Guys, it’s over to you!