Artist: Metallspürhunde
Title: Moloch
Genre: Electro Gothic Rock
Release Date: 1st April 2011
Label: Danse Macabre
Album Review
Since 1999, the Swiss band METALLSPÜRHUNDE have been combining dark music with thought-provoking lyrics, released in 5 studio albums and 3 EPs. On the new album ‘Moloch’ the band tries to find a new way of expressing themselves after the quitting of two old members. “Moloch is the ancient god to whom they sacrificed children, it is the metropol, the cities of today”, as the band explains. The album is also released as a limited edition with an extra remix CD.
The album presents nice, driving and catchy electro gothic rock with aptly measured proportion of both rock an electronic. It commences with a bunch of lively and bright guitar-driven songs: ‘Alarm’ with its dry pulsating beat in the beginning, ‘Kein Herz’ with its juicy crispy riffs and ‘Es wird gestorben’ with its powerful driving guitars, thick bass-line and a bit sharper vocals, making this track the fiercest one on the album. Now the scene is set for the greatest highlight of the album - the title song ‘Moloch’. The haunting melody backed by the straight beat and synth arrangements accompanies the slightly distorted vocals which bears some resemblance to DAS PRÄPARAT. The female vocals in the next ‘Synästhetische Magie’ seem to be a weak point of the track. Guitar power is back in ‘Gespenster’, in which clear vocal delivery is sustained by energetic heavy sound. The following ‘L'enfer’ (“hell” from French) suddenly drops both tempo and mood, being a leisurely ballad with electronic layers intertwined with trembling guitar chords and echoing drums. The lyrics narrate about lies and indifference of our society and its leaders: “Sie erzählen uns von Himmel, doch der Himmel ist weit weg von hier, und sie drohen mit der Hölle, doch die Hölle ist schon lange hier”. The message of ‘Es geht weiter’ is more optimistic, yet it still sounds quite melancholic.
‘So laut’ contains nice synth drillings, rolling bass inclusions and atmospheric electric guitar solo. The only flaw is weak female voice again. ‘Die Wand’ is diversified with squealing riffs and interesting rhythm change in the end of the song. When the catchy ‘Das Virus’ passes by, the time comes for the last two gems of ‘Moloch’, that is, ‘Kränze’ and ‘Das Pendel’. ‘Kränze’ is a convincing solemn ballad with marching drumming, beautiful rich arrangements and sombre electronic organ sounds, reminding of funeral march, which it actually is. It’s a very strong and impressive track conveying the atmosphere of mourning and bitterly describing the standard procedure to apply after the serious accidents. And finally ‘Das Pendel’ - an extremely atmospheric example of melancholic gothic rock with reverberant low vocals interlaced with disturbing guitar riffs and piercing vast synth textures. It perfectly well carries the haunting feelings described in the lyrics: “Das Pendel Im Kopf schlägt hin und wider, das Ende der Zeit ist immer näher.“
The extra remix CD introduces a wide range of different interpretations of hits from the previous albums. A great advantage of this CD is the diversity of remixes. ‘Blut und Spiele’ by KADAVER 8 is based on straight dance beat and doesn’t undergo big changes. NOKTIS adds metal attitude to the track by adding heavy guitar riffs and typical percussion. The next track to remix is ‘Obszöne Neue Welt’. UNMENSCH makes from it an excellent EBM club hit oriented towards hitting dance floors with a strong beat, minimalist arrangement and hoarse angry vocals. CYBER SAINT puts the emphasis on electro-industrial sound, while IRRLICHT on the contrary adds melodiousness and soaring synth background. ‘Macht es wieder gut’ remixed by UNMENSCH is deprived of heavy guitars and therefore looses its drive. The SHIZOPHOBIA remix of ‘Wo gehst Du hin?’ is another extremely club oriented version composed of terrorizing beats, vocals taken from the original song and some noises. In ‘Ou Iras-tu?’ remix by LISSING BLACK acoustic guitar obtains the leading part. VHELENA PROJECT speeds up the tempo of ‘Heuchler’ making it more dynamic and dark electro-esque. SOUL IN SADNESS reduces to minimum electronic arrangements of ‘In Deinem Bann’ in contrast to O.S.C. who makes it nearly pure electronic.
In general, METALLSPÜRHUNDE did a good work, the album is thorough and solid, the remix CD gladdens the ear with variety of interpretations, but a bit of originality is still wanted.
Tracklist
CD1
01. Alarm
02. Kein Herz
03. Es wird gestorben
04. Moloch
05. Synästhetische Magie
06. Gespenster
07. L'enfer
08. Es geht weiter
09. So laut
10. Die Wand
11. Das Virus
12. Kränze
13. Das Pendel
CD2
01. Blut und Spiele (Kadaver 8)
02. Blut und Spiele (Noktis)
03. Obszöne neue Welt (Unmensch)
04. Obszöne neue Welt (Cyber Saint)
05. Obszöne neue Welt (Irrlicht)
06. Mach es wieder gut (Unmensch)
07. Wo gehst Du hin? (Shizophobia)
08. Ou Iras-tu? (Lissing Black)
09. Heuchler (Vhelena Projekt)
10. In Deinem Bann (Soul In Sadness)
11. In Deinem Bann (O.S.C.)
Line-up
Michel Frasse - vocals, music
Marion Altwegg - keys, lyrics
Sebastian Hausmann - live guitars
André Gerber - live drums
Website
http://www.myspace.com/metallspuerhunde / http://www.mshunde.ch
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 7
Sound: 8
Extras: 9 (Remix CD)
Total: 8 / 10
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