Artist: Schwarzblut
Title: Maschinenwesen
Genre: Industrial / Gothic
Release Date: 27th April 2012
Label: Alfa Matrix
Album Review
The Industrial Revolution, which influenced not just the industrial sphere of life, but the whole society, takes its special place in modern culture. So called steam punk became one of the most popular underground direction. There are more and more people spending more and more money on steam punk clothes and accessories. Full of details their looks are fascinating. EMILIE AUTUMN already called her musical style a Victorian Industrial, but steam punk as musical direction completely formed a bit later. First you need to figure out how it could sound. The Netherlander band SCHWARZBLUT solved this problem by using poetry of that time as lyrics. Together with reproduced sounds of steam machines whisper of dead poets like Goethe, Roquette, Lenau and many others creates a great base for the whole atmosphere. Only electronic beats and effects remind us that we’re listening to the modern band of time travellers.
SCHWARZBLUT plays with contrast vocals, combining distorted male vocals, which is more just a speech, than singing, with female quite high singing and choirs. The poems from XIX century they frame with intense electronics. The electronic beats hardly create any melody, but make the songs pretty catchy and danceable. The real music is hiding in giant mechanisms. This noise makes you feel creepy all over. “Dark, wide, bare and angular fabric lies in arms of suburb. Music of Machines swells twitchy, flashy and brutal from its doors” (‘Die Fabrik’, the poem by Gerrit Engelke, used on the album). On ‘Maschinenwesen’ the musicians created earnest the steam punk atmosphere, uniting modern music and the past. As the result - goose skin.
Tracklist
01. Schlußpoetik ('Schlußpoetik’, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
02. Ein Schatten ('Ein Schatten’, Otto Roquette)
03. Der Schwere Abend ('Der schwere Abend’, Nikolaus Lenau)
04. Nomen Est Omen ('Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre', Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Schwarzblut)
05. Heimfahrt ('Heimfahrt’, Adolf Frey)
06. Die Fabrik ('Die Fabrik’, Gerrit Engelke)
07. An den Todesengel ('An den Todesengel’, Ludwig Pfau)
08. Der Schwarze Tod ('Der schwarze Tod’, Hermann von Lingg)
09. Einst ('Einst’, Eduard Ferrand)
Gesang der Geister über den Wassern ('Gesang der Geister über den Wassern’, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe):
10. I Des Menschen Seele (adagio)
11. II Strömt von der hohen (scherzo)
12. III Schicksal des Menschen (rondo)
Line-up
Zeon - Sound art, declamation
Angèlika - Vocals
Sturm - Sound art, video
Verstörungssyndikat - Live bass
Herr V. - Live drums
Website
www.schwarzblut.com
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9 / 10
Buy the album here!
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