SaturmZlide – Human Art Engines (CD Album – Hands)
Genre/Influences: Industrial, IDM.
Background/Info: German artist Alexander Marco strikes back with the fourth full length album of his SaturmZlide project. SaturmZlide always has been a guarantee for heavy industrial sound assaults while this work has been announced as a ‘reinvention’ of the band’s sound.
Content: “Human Art Engines” still sounds very industrial and this definitely driven by this influence. But the global sound production has considerably evolved towards more sophisticated arrangements, great sound treatments –created by analog gear and dark grooves. You still can hear big kicks carrying the composition while being the perfect cure to make you dance.
+ + + : I totally agree the affirmation that Alexander Marco has reinvented his own sound. The composition became more elaborated and artistic. Notice by the way that some cuts have been mixed and engineered by Matthias Schuster (who worked with bands such as Bal Paré, In Namen Des Volkes, Das Institut ao). The result will take you by surprise. I like the IDM approach mixed with rough industrial bombast. The dark and somewhat technoid inspired grooves totally fits with the heavy industrial rhythmic. I also noticed some acid-like treatments, which have been exposed to a few sounds. There also is a great progression running through this work, which is slowly gaining a great climax during the final cuts.
– – – : A few short duration tracks can’t totally convince me. It feels like they remain unaccomplished compared to the main part of this work.
Conclusion: SaturmZlide strikes back with a sonic bomb, which is made of power and sound intelligence. This is one more great production from the 2017 Hands vintage!
Best songs: “Radio 2.0”, “Education”, “Phantom Foyer”, “aZsid Tunnel”, “Six O’Clock & Hysteria”.
Rate: (8½).
Band: https://about.me/alexandermarco / www.facebook.com/saturmzlide
Label: www.handsproductions.com / www.facebook.com/hands.official
Support Side-Line
More people read Side-Line than ever, and there is still no paywall and no advertising. Readers pay for it instead - from $5 a month.
Why we ask
Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations we have not put up a paywall, and we refuse to add annoying advertising, so we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes time, money and hard work to produce, and we do it to push the artists we like, who are equally fighting to survive.
Handled by PayPal.
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.
