Title: Angel Suicide
Artist: Illectronic Rock
Genre: Alternative / Rock
Release Date: 8th February 2008
Label: Black Solaris Records
Introduction
“The hippest band from Aschaffenburg” is what the local press calls this band founded in the summer of 2005 by five guys all living in the same village. The band made themselves a name with countless live appearances on festivals, in clubs and in youth centres. In the midst of 2006 - together with producer Uwe Lulis - they began producing their debut album. The album ‘Angel Suicide’ will be released in the first week of February.
Members
Robert Schwarze - Vocals
Stefan Appel - Guitar
Marco Kempf - Bass
Jens Baar - Bass
Website
http://www.illectronicrock.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/illectronicrock
Track Review
01. Fear Inside - 3:35
“Rock mixed up with electronic gadgets”. One could reduce the track to those two ingredients. To be a little bit more precise: The song is driving with its fast drumming and the aggressive guitar riffs always accompanied by electronic sounds. But it has also calmer moments where the electronic sounds come to the fore and synthetic slower beats gain control. Robert’s chant passes through various styles including screaming as well as dark and menacing.
02. Between Heaven and here - 3:42
The song seems to be much calmer but that’s deceitful. First some piano chords appear immediately followed by energetic drumming and very gentle guitar accentuation but as already mentioned before. This song is not what it seems to be on first sight cause after the strophe ends the pure aggression comes to light with a sudden change in tempo followed by slicing guitars and Stefan’s chant sometimes screaming out his pain into your face.
03. No Superhero - 3:09
The guys waste no time. Without any intro, the song starts right away with energetic drumming that is marked by some rhythmic changes during the song. The guitars sound a little bull at times but maybe this was intended that way. Some electronic elements are also appearing.
04. Heart and Bonebreaker - 3:25
No, this not a Death Metal song but after a quite calm intro filled with electronic sounds the song gives full throttle and animates you to dance and jump around. Electronic gadgets only appear here and there so the full power of the guitars and drums in combination with Stefan’s varied chant dominate this more up-tempo track.
05. Brings me down - 3:54
A melodic sound almost like a whistling and very catches my attention at the beginning but it’s almost not audible and drowned by the heavy guitars and drums. Then the song gets much calmer and there’s the melody again and the arrangement has changes to an electronic one. That happens a couple of times and gives the song a nice dynamic. This time Robert really holds back and uses some restrained vocals.
06. Angel Suicide - 2:57
‘Angel Suicide’, which is also the title giving song of the album, presents again a good mixture between electronic and rocking elements but there’s also something that sounds like a bagpipe to me but it could also be just an electronically processed guitar chords, a track that is marked again by its varied drumming and the switching between louder and lower passages as a counterpart.
07. K.I.D.S. - 4:18
A melancholic intro provided by gentle played guitars lulls you in before the powerful and fast drums kick in with mighty guitar riffs in their back. I can already see the audience jumping to this song. It lives again on the dynamic changing of tempo and rhythm in the different parts of the song.
08. In Black & Bloom - 3:49
A song that seems to deal with a relationship ended by death and the remaining partner mourns her death but the shimmer of hope is that he’ll see her again when he dies too. Most of the time it is a very melancholic song. The drum parts a very laid-back and fused with electronics and only the fragile chords of a guitar are accompanying Roberts mourning chant but every time the chorus starts he screams out all the desperation he feels.
09. Twelve - 3:18
Like a lyre that slowly warms up this song starts and when the intro reaches its fastest point fast drums and heavy guitars appear on the scene to continue from there on, but suddenly it’s getting quiet and a light electronic arrangement with some nice vocal effects and a violin synth in the background takes control and Robert starts the first strophe with a very fragile voice. The chorus on the contrary is powerful again and dominated by the guitar sound the vocal style changes to a more powerful one.
10. Kiss me - 1:26
Finally some time to calm down as ‘Kiss me’ is a pure electronic and atmospheric instrumental full of small details and gadgets.
11. Like I’m Dead - 3:11
Some distorted and low guitar lines lead you directly to a more mid-tempo drum arrangement and of course more present guitars while the before mentioned lines sty in the background but are still audible. When the chant starts the drumming changes its rhythm again and the guitars are getting more subdued so the main focus in this part is clearly Robert’s voice. A low synth layer has also been placed here that adds a melancholic feeling to this part.
12. Maybe too dark - 3:11
Just a small guitar chord and the show goes on with ‘Maybe too Dark’ which is marked by various tempo and rhythmic changes as already experienced several times on the album but that’s an advantage. If there’s enough diversion, people won’t get bored so fast. The song also offers a guitar solo close to the end of it.
13. Overload Feeling - 3:07
If you enter the band’s homepage this is the song you’ll hear first starting off with a spherical and catchy synth melody which will accompany you through major parts of the song. A short break and rums and guitars kick in but when it’s time for the chant everything is different, the guitars get subdues and electronic elements appear. In the chorus which is again dominated by the guitars Robert uses his whole vocal bandwidth.
14. Suicide Angel - 3:21
‘Suicide Angel’ shows a whole different side of the band presenting a balladry track built up on a slow piano line and a violin synth in combination with a fragile chant - a good closer but also one that I came a little bit unexpected for me.
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 7
Extras: -
Total: 7
Conclusion
ILLECTRONIC ROCK is the name of the band and ILLECTRONIC ROCK is what is presented on their debut. Electronic elements fused together with good old and handmade rock music and a doze of craziness represented first and foremost by Roberts ability to change from calm to aggressive in the fraction of a second what lead to some very surprised expressions. Although I like the variety of emotion he expresses but the voice is still not my cup of tea but others will surely like it. It is as always a matter of taste. A good debut!!!
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