Grausame Töchter – Engel Im Rausch (CD Album – Scanner / Dark Dimensions)
Genre/Influences: Industrial-pop, experimental, electro-punk, EBM.
Background/Info: Areana Peel and her gang are back on track unleashing album number five of her fetish-electro project Grausame Töchter (‘Cruel Daughters’). Notice by the way there also is a limited edition of this album available as DCD featuring numerous remixes.
Content: Grausame Töchter is a band that first gained a reputation by their fetish/BDSM image and live shows, but which next became more and more recognized. I must say that I noticed a constant evolution in the composition and, which seems to find a new apotheosis by this new work.
“Engel Im Rausch” (cf. “Intoxicated Angel”) features 18 songs covering different influences. The main themes remain characterized by explicit lyrics (you don’t even need to speak German to understand “Sex In Deutschland”, “Fickmaschine”…) and a versatile electronic sound moving from electro-rock and punk into industrial-pop into EBM.
The work also features cover versions from Joachim Witt and Hubert Kah plus a cover (or simply reworked version) of an early Graumsame Töchter-song (cf. “Beleidigte Engel”).
+ + + : Graumsame Töchter already had the image, but is progressively revealing a very unique sound approach. The songs feel like a truly electronic osmosis of styles. I noticed several clubby cuts such as “”Wildes Tier” and the more EBM-driven “Lila Katzen”. Areana Peel is not only a visual artist (referring to the live shows), but also a passionate singer with clearly a taste for theatrical performances. The songs definitely reveal cohesion between all influences, which also comes through in the electro- and guitar parts, which are complementary. Sometimes bombastic and even epic-like, the songs are accomplished with refined arrangements.
– – – : The versatility of the work is not only a strength, but still one of its controversial sides. Grausame Töchter can’t be totally labeled as one specific and established genre and the tracklist is pretty impressive.
Conclusion: Grausame Töchter is a kind of electronic alien still interested in fetishism; it sounds rather surreal, but this new work is worthy of examination and definitely the best I’ve heard from this artist.
Best songs: “Lila Katzen”, “Wildes Tier”, “Goldener Reiter”, “Sex In Deutschland”, “Beleidigte Engel 2020”, “..Und Ich Fühle Nichts”, “Fickmaschine”.
Rate: (8).
Artist: www.grausame-toechter.de / www.facebook.com/GrausameToechter
Label: www.darkdimensions.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Dark-Dimensions-Label-Group/486014725206
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