Artist: Spielbann
Title: In Gedenken
Genre: Gothic Rock
Release Date: 16th October 2015
Label: Trisol
Review Flash
SPIELBANN’s third album, ‘In Gedenken’ (In Memoriam), marks their transformation into “ASP Light”. More than half of the album’s tracks were written or co-written by Asp Spreng, who also appears as narrator of the intro as well as singer of the song ‘HeimSuchung’. The artwork was done by frequent ASP collaborators, Timo Wuerz and Pit Hammann. The release coincided with the band’s guesting on ASPs “Verfallen Tour” in 2015. With that much help from one of Germany’s predominant Goth Rocker and friends, it comes to no surprise that the resulting work is nothing less than a solid performance, but it ultimately falls short in its attempt to reach their idol’s excellence. One notable exception, and the brilliant highlight of the album (and likely SPIELBANN’s entire catalog), is the poignant ‘Lebewohl’ (Farewell), relying on the compassionate side of Nic Frost rather than the raspy intonation of her band mate Seb Storm. Other tracks to check out are ‘Die Weiße Frau’ (The White Woman) and ‘Sünder ohne Namen’ (Sinners without Name), the latter only available on the limited edition.
Conclusion: ‘In Gedenken’ is a must-have for fans of Asp Spreng, a mostly average Gothic Rock album for everybody else.
Rating: 7 / 10
