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andreasgross_autumn
Artist: Andreas Gross
Title: Autumn Inventors
Genre: Dark Wave / Gothic
Release Date: 13th May 2011
Label: Echozone


Album Review

ANDREAS GROSS may sound as a solo project, but there are about seven musicians involved with this, though the multi-instrumentalist Andreas Gross is the mastermind of the compositions here. The songs are dreamy carried on mostly by female vocals suitable to underline the beauty of the songs. The first two songs ‘Shady Fortune Hunters’ and ‘The Sun’ yield more of the ambient, mostly enjoyable for the beautiful piano and the melancholy that will not leave the album throughout. The third ‘Oberon’ kicks in the Dark Wave / Electro feel, but still the song remains lingeringly ethereal. ‘Ashaver’ shows off the guitar where the first ones have shown off the piano / keyboards, giving the song its intensity, the bass here is yet another point to remark on too. Even sampling has its room here and doesn’t seem a superfluous trick it can be in lesser hands. ‘At The Edge’ is probably my favourite song of the album, it’s a song absolutely drenched in melancholy, beautiful sadness, evokes it in a degree that will let it wash through you in a thorough and even cathartic way.

‘Black String Girl’ is a song that was the third single for this album, some great use of vocoder here and the video for the song should be viewed, it shows the sensitivity and aesthetic appeal of the music quite well. On the other hand, for me it’s one of the weaker song of the ‘Autumn Inventors’, it gets repetitive and lost in lukewarm dissipation, there’s a certain sense of numbness to it. It just fails to grab as much as the other or maybe it’s just more suitable to the temperaments on a phlegmatic side. ‘Burning’ added finally a contrast of a male voice. There are also live tracks included at the end of the album, which is often a great touch as to give the listeners yet another angle to the band and to give them a glimpse of the atmosphere of their gigs. The impression is that they do sound equally as good live as well, and these songs do add a further enjoyment to the album. In conclusion, the album’s listening will reach its maximum effect if you’re feeling adequately blue, but even if you’re not, this is a very beautiful and atmospheric music, where you will find many angles to enjoy and maybe even love. Recommended indeed.


Tracklist

01. Shady Fortune Hunters – 4.18
02. The Sun – 3.25
03. Oberon – 3.44
04. Ahasver – 4.22
05. At The Edge – 3.50
06. Black String Girl – 4.09
07. Silent Halls – 4.34
08. Eighteen Forty Seven – 4.31
09. Burning – 4.24
10. Heart Parasite – 3.03
11. Agnus Dei (live) – 4.17
12. Stone Thrower (live) – 4.55
13. False Prophets (live) – 4.17
14. Hail To The Employee (live) – 4.27


Line-up

Tabitha Anders – Vocals, acoustic guitars, drums
Swenja Schneider – Vocals
Jannika Schneider – Backing vocals (live), voice
Christian Bohr – Bass, guitar
Thomas Stumpf – Guitar
Isabel Walter – Cello
Andreas Gross – Vocals, vocoder, piano, synths, sampling


Websites

www.nomorejazz.de / http://www.myspace.com/andreasgross


Cover Picture

andreasgross_autumn


Rating

Music: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9 / 10


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