First Aid 4 Souls – Dreambox (EP – Alfa Matrix)
Genre/Influences: EBM, Body-Pop, Dark-Pop.
Format: Digital.
Background/Info: Earlier this year First Aid 4 Souls released the “Fire”-album, which was a kind of conceptual work on, which the band’s mastermind worked together with Hungarian compatriots/singers like Emke from Black Nail Cabaret, Josef Stapel from Ultranoire or yet Vic Willow from Planetdamage. “Dreambox” is an EP taken from this work featuring a selection of fourteen songs.
Content: “Das Messer” feat. Emke and “Dreambox” feat. Josef Stapel are the main songs from the EP. Five remixes from each song have been made while you’ll also get remixes of the songs “Burn”, “Ordinary Demonism” and “Freedom” all featuring vocals by Vic Willow. As a little extra “Bring Back Armageddon” is a new song featuring Nick Sonick from Wet Lips. The main particularity of the work is that István Gazdag is responsible for all remixes. From orchestral to 80s, to more Industrial-driven to EBM to refreshing Pop he tried to create different edits.
+ + + : “Das Messer” remains a great union between the sophisticated Dark-Body-Pop of first Aid 4 Souls and the charismatic vocals of Emke. This woman has such a charisma emerging from her voice that she cannot leave you unmoved. The “Zombie Club Mix ” has something more Industrial-like while the bouncing “Batcave”-version both are attention grabbers. “Dreambox” featuring Josef Stapel remains a cool song as well. There’s a duality between the EBM sequences and the more Pop-like way of singing, but here again it perfectly works and especially the “Club Mix” is worthy of examination. I also like the songs featuring Vic Willow while having a preference for the punchy “Club Mix” of “Burn” and the sophisticated “Club Mix” of “Freedom”.
– – – : The new song “Bring Back Armageddon” is a more pompous, orchestral song, which can’t compete with the other cuts from the EP. This EP is mainly meant for the fans.
Conclusion: The songs on this EP reveal the eclectic Electronic format from one of the best Hungarian formations in the genre.
Best songs: “Das Messer feat. Emke”, “Dreambox feat. Josef Stapel – Club Mix”, “Das Messer feat. Emke – Batcave Version”, “Freedom feat. Vic Willow – Club Mix”.
Rate: (7½).
Artist: www.facebook.com/First-Aid-4-Souls-180876236297
Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Dreambox’.
About First Aid 4 Souls
First Aid 4 Souls is a Hungarian electro project driven by Istvan Gazdag, active for over a decade and signed early on to the Some Bizarre label, which released a double CD of the project’s work in 2008 alongside acts such as Coil, Soft Cell, Cabaret Voltaire, Swans, Test Dept and Einsturzende Neubauten. The 2020 concept album “Fire”, released via Alfa Matrix, paired Gazdag with Hungarian singers including Emke of Black Nail Cabaret, Josef Stapel of Ultranoire and Vic Willow of Planetdamage. “Dreambox” collects a selection of remixes and extra tracks from that album, all reworked by Gazdag himself.
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