CD Review: Various Artists - Stählerne Lichter

Written by Sean M. Palfrey Thursday, 03 March 2011 11:31

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Artist: Various Artists
Title: Stählerne Lichter
Genre: Ambient / Experimental
Release Date: 22nd January 2010
Label: Licht Und Stahl

Album Review

German Indie industrial label Licht Und Stahl have done a pretty good job on this compilation ‘Stählerne Lichter’. There is a temptation when compiling mainstream compilations to just throw all the hits on a CD and let them speak for themselves. That isn’t so easy with dense and thought-provoking genres such as the ones on display here. When you’re dealing with bands that don’t deal in traditional song structures, let a lone hits, you need to be more careful with the construction and choose and arrange songs that compliment each other to give the compilation a sense of narrative. Which has been done to great effect here.

However there are plenty of standout tracks on the compilation that stand on their own feet just as well. ‘Let Him To Sleep’ by Dieter Mühl is a great opening track that utilises dissonant loops and droning chords to create a surreal and entrancing soundscape. Galerie Schallschutz’s ‘Electro Convulsive Thereapy’ features a calm detached sample describing ECT over arrhythmic electronic loops that effectively evokes the nightmarish scene. ‘Legal Slavery’ by Le Syndicate on the other hand is a softer more traditional electro-industrial intro that again makes great use of calm and detached sounding vocals.

‘eS’ by Leiche Rustikal is unforgiving and uncompromising sonic dissonance driven by an apocalyptic industrial beat loop. Wach’s ‘Licht:Maschinen’ is a classic industrial sounds cape that makes good use of mechanical sounding loops, electronic drones and metallic strikes throughout. Erdlicht’s ‘Lichbote’ however is more neo-classical in construction with it’s solid and steady marching drum beat over an echoing brassy synth loop. The album’s closer ‘Inwendig’ by N.Stahl.N is another great piece of experimental ambient-industrial full of mechanical and organic sounding samples stitched together to create an avant-garde rhythm.

As with all experimental-industrial compilations there are plenty of tracks that will flat-out divide fans of the genre as well as those that are instantly recognisable as strokes of genius. If you are a fan of this music though ‘Stählerne Lichter’ may just throw something new your way.


Tracklist

01 Dieter Mühl - Let Him To Sleep
02 Flutwacht - Stahlfieber
03 N.Strahl.N - Blutleuchte
04 Galerie Schallschutz - Electro Convulsive Therapy
05 Atrox - Shunning The Light
06 Minamata - Soviet Time / Putin Time
07 Le Syndicat - Legal Slavery
08 Vacio Perfecto - Torsion Mecanica
09 Kraftkammer - Autoclave
10 Leiche Rustikal - Es
11 Wach - Licht:Maschine
12 Fieberflug - Schleppend
13 Erdlicht - Lichtbote
14 Sturmkind - Im Fall
15 N.Strahl.N - Inwendig


Websites

http://www.myspace.com/lichtundstahl / http://www.lichtundstahl.blogspot.com/


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 7
Sound: 7
Extras: -
Total: 7 / 10