Catching up on latest EBM releases

EBM has had a boom in quality and original releases lately. Due to label-activity (look to the banner to the right..), it has been difficult to cover each release in its own post, so this time a post covering many of the newest releases at the same time will have to do. (it will still be the same, except the pictures will be smaller).

Let's go! First up is Angst! 

Some of you music nerds already know that there has been an EBM band (or project) called Angst, old school style. This new Angst is something else and actually is a side project from Henrik Nordvargr (known from ..I don't know.... Pouppée Fabrikk maybe!?). Their release on Progress Productions is called "Tar Ner Skylten" and is entirely in Swedish. You can hear the old school sound right away, and the first track even reminds of "Bring Back The Ways of Old" by Pouppée Fabrikk, but that is the only similarity you will find between the two bands. This new album from Angst is different: slower, calmer, and to some extent even more old school. Some of the tracks go really far back in time and reach the electropunk quality that DAF had: somewhat laid back compositions with experimental sounds filling out the monotonic bass and rhythms. The drums on this release are especially nice, as they are live drums. Even though this has happened on several EBM releases the past years, it still puts a unique touch on "Tar Ner Skylten". The album has professional quality written all over it, and is a very interesting release musically: it's well produced, experimental, and fresh. Not the first thing you would dance to, but who ever said that EBM was only about dancing? This CD can be purchased at Progress Productions. And if you do, you also will get a small promo CD with 3 tracks form Wulf Band, which is the new hit on the street of electropunk and EBM.

Sort of hidden and underground, there has been a release by a band that many have been waiting for, but didn't notice. Hell yeah, it's KROPP, but it is not entirely a new CD. Taken over by Frankahdafi Recods, this is a double CD, where the first one is a re-release of the old debut CD from 2008, which showed the world of EBM how to professionally mix punk and EBM, and which actually is considered a classic by now. The 2nd CD consists of one track that has appeared on a compilation (Swedish EBM - The Collection), and the rest are 3 new tracks. The new ones are the same good old KROPP, energetic, lyrics are about love, and they still kick so much ass. The CD can only be ordered through direct contact, so send an e-mail to info@frankahdafi-records.de or see the release info here.

Next up is Invasion of Female Logic. Now, let's try to figure out the band name first: it has been bothering me for a while. Is it an invasion where female logic takes over the world? Or is it an invasion where something else invades female logic itself? Maybe it's a riddle and the answer lies within the CD. In that case, I think it is the former solution: entirely based on the track "Frontfrau" on the CD: it is strong, pretty bad ass and uncompromizing. Maybe that is what female logic is in this case. Anyway... "Alternativlos" is the name of the album and it is a mix of many things: some old school electro, some Depeche Mode, some And One, and some anhalt EBM. Most of the tracks are on the more melodic and synth-pop side. Frontfrau is the one track that stood out for me, as it is purely heavy EBM, and done really well, and to be honest I miss that sort of punch in the rest of the tracks, but I understand that creating only old school/anhalt EBM was never the intention of this artist. I still wish there were more tracks like these, and they do exist on certain compilations from Electro Arc: look them up on Spotify! (Net.Ware Etronics and Net Ware Delight). They include remixes and collaborations with Invasion of Female Logic. As far as I know the physical CD was promotional only, and the CD should be available in places like Itunes. 

And that leads us to D-F-O-W. This project has existed for ages, but always stayed self-released. The new EP is no exception. It's called "Die Freundschaft" and is good standard old school German EBM. As far as I can tell, this is also the first release featuring another vocalist, and I think he does well. The music is fun and catchy, especially the track "EBM Kaffee" (watch the charming super-serious video). D-F-O-W here presents four new tracks, and four remixes of some of them, by bands like Muscles on The Move, Akalotz, and some others. This release is also sort of underground, as you have to get in touch with someone to get it. I think a good idea would be to use Facebook, unless you know how to go back in time and buy at the Tremor stand during Familientreffen in July. If you do that, please find me and remind me to drink more beer and less of that weird green stuff.