A short time after the "No candle light" ep (see archive), here's the new full length by the German trio. Listening to the ep, I thought this work would be more melodic and singalong, but it actually resembles much "Virus: Hate" in its preference for mid-tempos and gloomy, heavy atmospheres, with davaNtage's characteristic low, unfiltered vocals. Only "Crisis" has a faster pace, and the catchiest tune along with "No candle light", while other tracks opt for a darker and more meditative approach. All lyrics (which, oddly enough, are written by an external collaborator) are very political and are mostly focused on globalization, market policies, riots and international crisis; one exception being "Coldest Place", which, if I'm not wrong, is inspired by the tragedy of the Kursk submarine in Russia. All comes out very honest and straight from the heart; it's somehow nice to see that davaNtage put a lot of effort in conveying a message and not just throwing off some rhythms. The layout, by EchoRausch, is a mix of hi-tech design and small real life photos accompanying the lyrics - not my cup of tea, but it works and is quite adequate to represent the band's mix of technology and political message.

Ok, this has been out for a while - I'm guilty of the delay, apologies to Athanor and their distributor. But the fact that lots of people have listened to and commented this sort of makes things more interesting. Somebody has loved "Absinthe", which was a long announced and awaited work - some others have dismissed the work as a missed opportunity to say the least. Actually, those who were waiting for another "The Gospel of Inhumanity" will be surely disappointed - also because, being a concept album, "Absinthe" does not present the variety of styles of the "Gospel". "Absinthe" takes the hallucinated atmospheres of the eponymous track on Blood Axis debut to an extreme of originality and philologic accuracy. Samples - probably mainly assembled by LJDLP - come from late XIX/early XX century and lyrics are taken from authors who experimented with the "green madness"; all illustrations of the luxurious digipack and colour booklet are reproductions of French originals from the same period (there's also a thank you to the Musée de l'Absinthe). The sounds themselves (including Annabel Lee's violin) have been skillfully mixed with a patina of antiquity; out of these misty melodies comes Moynihan's mesmerizing recital which really conveys both despair and stoned voluptuousness. Sounds suggest decadence, ecstatic rapture and terrifying visions, and perfectly adhere to the theme - kudos to the artists for not repeating passively their trademark sound but taking it to new dimensions...

eh. not that great. if you see it in the 2 for $5 bin at your local record store, pick it up...otherwise...don't waste your money.

this cd is a mixed bag. the first half of the cd is excellent, making you glad you bought the cd...but then it starts to unwind and mellow out...like the last hour of a keg party. it just gets all somber, and depressing. The female singer has a beautiful voice, and a lot of the music is done well, but after 20 or so minutes...do you still care?

in all honesty...the only real reason to buy this (other then if you are a big Kidneythieves fan) is for the KMFDM remix of Spank. nothing else really worth noting here...