Stahlgeist – Escape Reality (Digital Album – Stahlgeist)
Genre/Influences: EBM.
Background/Info: Stahlgeist is a new Hungarian EBM duo set up in 2017. The band is driven by Istvan Gazdag (First Aid 4 Souls) and Tamás Bank (Worker Munkás).
Content: The album takes off a pure old-school EBM way characterized by a solid bass line. Quite progressively Stahlgeist moves into an intelligent format of ‘body music’, which is –just as First Aid 4 Souls, sometimes reminding me of Frontline Assembly. The songs are diversified, but all inspired by retro-EBM. This diversity also comes back in the vocals –mainly sung in English, but you’ll also notice other languages as well.
+ + + : This is a great debut work. The classical EBM format has no surprises, but the way the songs have been written reveals a sophisticated process. This is much more than cheap EBM, but a well-thought and accomplished composition revealing great bass lines, icy sequences and raw, danceable songs. There are several cool songs featured on this work.
– – – : The link with FLA became rapidly obvious, but I’m not complaining when the result is that accomplished.
Conclusion: First Aid 4 Souls already was a nice surprise, and it’s not that different for Stahlgeist. This band knows how to bring the true EBM spirit to life! I know of many bands sharing a similar music style and signed on established labels, but without the same talent!
Best songs: “Infected Colony”, “Step By Step”, “Nihilist”, “No Regrets”, “Escape Reality”.
Rate: (8).
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