Genre/Influences: EBM. Background/Info: Peter Elm formerly praised as the mastermind behind Restricted Area took us…
Genre/Influences: EBM.
Background/Info: Peter Elm formerly praised as the mastermind behind Restricted Area took us by surprise earlier this year with the furious “Edge”-EP. Elm revealed a pure EBM-approach reminding me of legendary pioneers so I was really wondering what the debut album would sound-like.
Content: “Hardline” is a pure old-school EBM work, which has been clearly inspired by Nitzer Ebb, Pouppée Fabrikk and co. The songs are driven by classical, dry sounding bass lines, powerful rhythms and great vocals by Peter Elm.
The debut tracks are a little less hesitant although you feel that there’s much more power hiding behind “Hardline”. The 2nd part of the album featuring 13 songs evolves towards harder and merciless body fields. The sound formula is quite easy and known by all EBM fanatics yet it remains an exciting experience in sound. Elm can be easily linked to Spetsnaz and NZ, which both probably are the most credible and successful contemporary disciples of Nitzer Ebb.
It also means that “Hardline” guarantees a great and professional production. The global sound is overwhelming and violent; the songs are short and powerful. A few icy leads and extra sequences are fully achieving the work. A last and essential element remains the lyrics, which are sometimes –and just like Restricted Area, sung in French and accompanied by somewhat sterile, but sexy female backing vocals.
The extra disc from the limited edition reveals 4 new songs plus 5 remixes by Elm himself and 2 remixes by Pouppée Fabrikk and Spetsnaz. All I can say is that the extra songs are more than album fillers while Elm made a few great remixes and there also is a noticeable remix by Spetsnaz. Notice by the way that Pontus Stålberg did the mastering of this album.
+ + + : This album stands for a great and merciless EBM production and definitely will bring one new band on the map. Peter Elm is an experienced and talented EBM composer who has accomplished numerous potential hits on one and the same album. The EP title song “Edge” remains a terrific piece in the genre, but I can also mention multiple other tracks. There’s a great harmony between music and vocals.
– – – : Elm appears to be the newest copyist of Nitzer Ebb and co. There’s no originality and no innovation at all.
Conclusion: Everything has been said about EBM and everything has been already experienced, but “Hardline” will without a shadow of doubt become one of the most successful releases in the genre of 2016!
Best songs: “Edge”, “Fighter”, “Hardline”, “Paradise”, “Envahissuer” + “Overflow”, “Wapenrustning – New School-Mix”, “Edge – Punish Mix”, “Wapenrustning – Remixed By Spetsnaz”.
Since you’re here …
… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
The donations are safely powered by Paypal.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.