seven

this new album of the band ("when the shadow falls") that turned out to be one of my most impressive discoveries of the year, is quite different from their previous work ("in einer zukunft aus tränen und stahl" and "lieder die wie wunden bluten").

this time around the band presents its more melodic and soft side. female vocals starts dominating the songs pushing to the background extreme aggression and dense militancy that we used to. the music is still based on the contrast of male and female vocals - the old combination that works brilliantly each time.

gorgeous ballads like "another day", "ich gab dir alles", "tears in the rain", "stern", "close your eyes", "at the end" present the new sound where soft melodies and female vocals are accentuated and "male" side of the music is almost absent. as quite a surprise comes the track "changes" where male vocals are presented in clear unaltered form taking the song to the graceful and melancholic realm of synthpop. at the same time compositions like "in the heart of europe" or "gefallen" retain the "old" hard-hitting sound.

at times I do miss the symphonic-like tracks off "in einer zukunft aus tränen und stahl" that were pushing the intensity of the sound to extremes, but new tracks balance both male and female sides of the band more gracefully resulting in a stronger and more "acceptable" sound that is a mix of darkwave, soft electro and dark cold electronics. to some the new material might appear more "faceless" and "flat", but it is just a logical progression in the band's sound.

additional bonus is a 5-track "echoes" cd featuring remixes by noisex and inertia and some unreleased tracks.

this limited edition double-disk cd is yet another addition to the line of brilliant electronic albums released by the band.