Golden Apes – Kasbek (CD Album – Aenaos Records)
Genre/Influences: Dark-rock, cold-wave.
Background/Info: German formation Golden Apes this year celebrates their 20th anniversary. Instead of releasing a ‘best of’ they simply strike back with a new full length album, which is the band’s tenth opus in 20 years. The title is taken from a mountain of Caucasus, which also was the place where Prometheus was chained to a rock while an eagle gnawed at his regrowing liver. A piece of mythology we have all heard in school.
Content: Golden Apes moves on composing their own thing. Some of the songs are more into a dark-rock tradition while others are taking us back to 80s cold/dark-wave reminiscences. The tracks are moving in between harder, punching cuts and more evasive, melancholic pieces. On top of it all you’ll hear Peer Lebrecht’s deep timbre of voice.
+ + + : First of all there’s a great and artistic digipak, which I’m sure will please all CD-freaks. And here again, a physical copy means so much more than ‘cheap’ streaming platforms. Sound-wise Golden Apes don’t really innovate, but this work reflects all the talent and writing skills of an experienced band. The guitar playing is an essential aspect of the composition, which creates the spirit hanging over the songs. “Dust And Dew” is a beautiful exposure of this album, but also perfectly resuming the global approach of Golden Apes. It also is a song featuring female backing vocals.
– – – : The only ‘little’ thing this album is missing –but which often has a great impact… is a hit!
Conclusion: “Kasbek” is what I should call a beautiful album and speaking for myself, probably my favorite one!
Best songs: “Dust And Dew”, “Kasbek”, “Deliverance”, “Oblivion”, “Interference”.
Rate: (8).
Artist: www.goldenapes.com / www.facebook.com/GoldenApes
Label: https://shop.af–music.com/
About Golden Apes
Golden Apes formed in Berlin in 1998 and had already released ten studio albums by the time of “Kasbek,” put out on labels including Shadowplay Release, Echozone and AF-Music over the years. Singer Peer Lebrecht told Side-Line the band never set out to “fit any schemes or serve expectations,” steering the sound by instinct rather than formula. Three years after “Kasbek,” Golden Apes marked their 25th anniversary with the EP “From the Sky” on the French label Icy Cold Records, and followed it in 2024 with their eleventh album, “Our Ashes at the End of the Day.”
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
