Artist: Various Artists
Title: Amphi Festival 2010
Genre: Electro / Gothic / Rock / EBM
Release Date: 23rd July 2010
Label: Out of Line (Universal)
Album Review
The Amphi Festival, taking place every summer in Cologne, has become an absolute must-go for the global dark alternative music scene. The official festival compilation sports a representative cross section of the most important groups performing at this year’s festival with their most recent hits and club-compatible remixes. With SKINNY PUPPY, DIARY OF DREAMS, LETZTE INSTANZ, COMBICHRIST, AND ONE, EISBRECHER, ASP, ASHBURY HEIGHTS, BLUTENGEL, SOLITARY EXPERIMENTS and many more, the disc features some of the scene’s most popular and successful acts from all ends of the musical spectrum.
The Swedish duo ASHBURY HEIGHTS opens the compilation with ‘Medicine’. ‘Schneekönigin’ (BLUTENGEL) is one of the highlights form me: the sung verses convey an indescribable feeling. WELLE ERDBALL’s ‘Ich bin aus Plastik’ is like a feel-good song and FADERHEAD tells the story of a Friday night with ‘Escape from the Machine’. The club mix of ‘Kings of Nowhere’ by DIARY OF DREAMS brings back the beat. RABIA SORDA with ‘Mirrors and Knives’ is another down-tempo track, brilliant in its bleakness, with some nice Synth lines and dysfunctional leanings, with pained vocals throughout. ‘Ugli’ (SKINNY PUPPY) pounds static beats into screeching vocals. This song is chaotic, stimulating and vicious as it coughs with spontaneity.
COMBICHRIST presents ‘Get out of my Head’: the beat is catchy and repetitive, but never boring. Following is ‘Hellektrostar’ by EXTIZE. I cannot make friends with the song; the band does not talk to me. Absolutely gripping, relatively gentle chorus in the title track, which is established with vehemence in my mind: this is ‘Eiszeit’ by EISBRECHER. ASP’s Horror-Vacui Remix of ‘Kokon’ is like breaking metal riffs in 3/4Takt in a fully electronic sound robe. ‘The Battle of Maldon’ (LEAVES` EYES) sounds like vintage NIGHTWISH: majestic piano and synths providing the springboard for crunchy riffs and the battle between vocals and growls. LETZTE INSTANZ’ ‘Die Eine’ is a tribute to the woman, but which is immediately trampled: everybody can find his own interpretation of the text.
DIN [A] TOD goes for the award of originality and presents ‘Westwerk’ in overwhelming electro-wave style. SOLITARY EXPERIMENTS’ ‘Immortal’ comes with compelling lyrics and heavy EBM sounds. DESTROID’s ‘Leaving Ground’ is a good mix of twittering synths, muddy vocoders and a hand-clap beat. Finally ‘Steine sind Steine’ (AND ONE) leaves no doubt: German ambiguity. This is an interesting compilation from different styles of the "black scene" - insiders and newcomers will like it. You must not always listen intently.
Tracklist
01. Ashbury Heights – Medicine
02. Blutengel – Schneekönigin
03. Welle: Erdball – Ich bin aus Plastik!
04. Faderhead – Escape From The Machine (Demo Version)
05. Diary Of Dreams – King Of Nowhere (Club Mix)
06. Rabia Sorda – Mirrors and Knives
07. Skinny Puppy – Ugli
08. Combichrist – Get Out Of My Head
09. Extize – Hellektrostar (Reaper Remix)
10. Eisbrecher – Eiszeit
11. ASP – Kokon (Horror Vacui Mix)
12. Leaves Eyes – The Battle Of Maldon
13. Letzte Instanz – Die Eine
14. Din[A]Tod – Westwerk
15. Solitary Experiments – Immortal (Cephalgy Mix)
16. Destroid – Leaving Ground
17. And One – Steine sind Steine (LP Version)
Website
www.amphi-festival.de / http://www.outofline.de/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Extras: -
Total: 8 / 10
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