Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Blutengel

Details: Written by: Ruth Gräbeldinger; Published: 14 October 2007

Rockfabrik, Ludwigsburg, Germany
10th October 2007
Blutengel, Adam

BLUTENGEL disunites the German Gothic scene; there are many fans who like the band's danceable songs and catchy melodies as well as its vocalist Chris Pohl - who is also quite successful with his other electronic projects TERMINAL CHOICE and TUMOR. But there are others blaming the band of being too shallow concerning both music and lyrics, and of flirting too much with the mainstream. This autumn night BLUTENGEL were to appear in the Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg, and though they surely are not my favourite band, I had decided to give them a chance, as I had never experienced them live before.

As support guests, the Italian Electro band ADAM, who have released their self-titled debut album this February, should get the visitors in the right mood for Chris Pohl and his band. But things went a little different this night. When the Rockfabrik opened its doors at about half past seven, the visitors were informed that BLUTENGEL would be about an hour late due to a flat tyre on their tour bus; so we waited and waited, the hour passed, and finally, with over two hours delay, Chris Pohl and the rest of his band appeared on stage. Obviously ADAM was not going to play, which was a pity, I was really curious to see their show.
http://www.rockfabrik-ludwigsburg.de/

ADAM

The Italian Electro band ADAM has been founded in December 2004 by vocalist Jeez, who also does the lyrics and production. In February 2007, their first regular album has appeared via Fear Section (Chris Pohl's label); it features the track ‘Send Me An Angel’ with Chris Pohl and Constance Rudert from BLUTENGEL as guest musicians. So it seems to be no fortuity that the two bands are touring together. http://www.churchofadam.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/adamworld

Music
I tend to get a little suspicious when I read about a band talking about themselves as the "new Electro phenomenon" - I cannot see why ADAM should be one. The stuff they are playing is not bad, danceable Electro meets harsher Industrial-like parts and male vocals that fit in very well - but it is nothing really new. Many of their songs are able to fill the dance floors in the clubs, but they will at the same time not stay in one's mind for a long time, except for one or two of them, like ‘Perfect Day To Die’ or ‘Kaos Inside’. As I had to catch my train, and did not even experienced the moment BLUTENGEL left the stage, I can only report what I have heard from other visitors, namely that ADAM appeared after BLUTENGEL, and did a really fine show.

BLUTENGEL

The German band BLUTENGEL has been founded in 1998 by Chris Pohl after he had given up his project SEELENKRANK; the female vocals were taken on by Kati Roloff and Nina Bendigkeit. In the year following their first album ‘Child Of Glass’ appeared. As time passed, BLUTENGEL released several albums and singles, and some line-up changes also occurred; at the moment, Constance Rudert and Ulrike Goldmann are the female vocalists. The formation’s latest output is this year's ‘Labyrinth’, which has been published just a month ago via Out Of Line Records. http://www.blutengel.de/

Music
This October night, BLUTENGEL's autumn tour through Germany (plus one date in Switzerland) has started in the Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg - and it surely was no lucky day for the band and a pretty bad tour start. First their annoying delay, then they had to start without a sound check and support band. Obviously the band members had difficulties in hearing themselves on the monitors and the sound was not the best, especially when the concert started. The female voices were nearly inaudible, then again too loud. With ‘Bloody Pleasures’, the third song, this got much better, but during the whole set the sound was not ideal. BLUTENGEL play some kind of Electro/(Future) Pop with strong Euro-dance elements. Their lyrics are in German and English, treating topics like human feelings, sexuality or some Gothic stuff, mostly in a rather superficial way. As one could expect, they played several songs from their new album, like ‘Lucifer’, ‘Engelsblut’ or ‘Gloomy Shadows’, but also well-known older stuff like ‘Love Killer’ (‘Demon Kiss’, 2004) or ‘Black Wedding’ (‘Angel Dust’, 2002).

Performance
Maybe it was the excitement because of the tour start and its first concert - which surely didn't get better while they waited for their tyre to be changed, but BLUTENGEL, all members of the band, seemed to be quite nervous and insecure this evening. Chris Pohl came on stage in a black suit and the two female vocalists had beautiful dresses on. However, things appeared a little tentative and not quite well-rehearsed. All singers had the lyrics in front of them on music stands and seemed to be quite uncertain with them.

In the stage background, BLUTENGEL always had some performance going on, often fitting the song which was just performed. Men in frocks, seductive women dancing with torches, or nuns during ‘Lucifer’ - sometimes nice, sometimes a little awkward. The visitors in the Rockfabrik were not very enthusiastic, apart from a few fans dancing lost in reverie, maybe they were tired of waiting, and maybe they had also expected more. All in all a disappointing evening, which for sure was not only the band's fault, they also had bad luck this Thursday. One can only hope that the rest of this tour will be better.

Rating
Music: 5
Performance: 5
Sound: 4
Light: 5
Total: 4.8