Philipp Münch – Über Leben 3 (EP – Ant-Zen)
Genre/Influences: Electro-industrial.
Format: Digital.
Background/Info: Philipp Münch has been involved with an endless number of projects. From Ars Moriendi to Mandelbrot to Rasputin to The Rorschach Garden to Synapscape I here only enumerate some of his most famous projects. “Über Leben 3” sees the artist getting back to some 90s stuff; songs that were originally composed by Ars Moriendi, The Rorschach Garden and Moata Omen got reworked by Phillipp Münch.
Content: The first track “Erste Liebe Neu” was originally composed by the Ars Moriendi gang and reworked by Münch into an electro-industrial approach featuring harsh, spooky vocals. The song is filled with an impressive number of noises and analogue sweeps. The 3 cuts left were originally written by The Rorschach Garden –while one was together with Moata Omen. As The Rorschach Garden was Philipp’s solo-project you in a way can say he remixed the original songs or simply reworked them in a different approach. It remains pretty industrial-like, but still darker than the original versions.
+ + + : I think this EP rather sounds as a production achieved during the lockdown, the artist revisiting some of his early compositions. But Philipp Münch also confirmed his natural talent to switch from one genre till another. He feels comfortable dealing with different projects and very different music styles. The way he reworked “The Drowning” has something visionary, but I also can mention the other Rorschach Garden track “No Story (Not At All)”, which is really sophisticated and yet pretty accessible.
– – – : All I can say is that I personally prefer the original edits from The Rorschach Garden, but I’ve always been a huge fan of this retro-like project. The work doesn’t really bring anything new, but it’s fun!
Conclusion: When a prolific artist simply reworks some of his very own compositions, you get “Über Leben 3”. This is a cool intermezzo for more work by this musician.
Best songs: “No Story (Not At All)”, “The Drowning”.
Rate: (7½).
Artist: www.facebook.com/philippmuench.de
Label: www.ant-zen.com / www.facebook.com/antzen.official
About Philipp Münch
Philipp Münch is a German musician who has recorded under numerous names, including Synapscape, Ars Moriendi, Mandelbrot, Rasputin and The Rorschach Garden, the last of which he set up in 1988 and has described as his musical diary. “Über Leben 3” reworks material originally written for Ars Moriendi and The Rorschach Garden, one track composed together with Moata Omen. He later continued The Rorschach Garden with the 2021 Ant-Zen album “We Are Vanishing”, another exploration of retro Electro and Minimal-Wave sounds.
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