Genre/Influences: Dark Electro-Pop, Electro-Wave.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: German project The Snatcher has already released multiple singles and two albums. This new EP features six songs plus one remix.

Content: It’s not that easy defining the sound of The Snatcher, but the title song makes me think of an imaginary offspring between Welle:Erdball and Dorsetshire. With the exception of one song, all tracks have been sung in German. A few tracks feature female backing vocals. “Kalt” is mixing power and melody, rage and a sense of humor. There’s also an atypical song featured, which is a kind of unplugged ballad roughly sung in English.The last song is a remix of “Kalt” by Merry Chicklit.

+ + + : I definitely like the melodic and danceable side of the band. “Kalt” is a pretty cool title track carried with some kind of ping-pong sequences. The remix of Merry Chicklit features female backings and is another cool exposure. “Meckerziege” is another noticeable track and here again featuring female backing vocals. The Snatcher doesn’t really innovate and sounds typical German-like, but this new EP is efficient.

– – – : The EP often gives bands the opportunity to release weird and unusual tracks. The ballad-like “Lost Again” is such a song and definitely one you can better avoid.

Conclusion: “Kalt” is a cool song for the dancefloors and for sure an EP that will increase this band’s popularity.

Best songs: “Kalt”, “Kalt – Merry Chicklit Remix”, “Meckerziege”, “Damokles”, “Quarantaine-Källe”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.thesnatcher.de / www.facebook.com/theofficialsnatcher

Label: www.dansemacabre-group.de / www.facebook.com/dansemacabrerec

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

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Genre/Influences: Gothic-electro, dark-pop.

Background/Info: Set up in 1992, German formation Dorsetshire put their stamp on the 90s dark electro-pop and gothic-electro scene through a few legendary hits. They called it quits in 1998, resurrected in 2017 and released a new EP in 2018.

Content: “Timemachine” takes off with 2 new cuts revealing a rather surprising (future)-pop-driven title song while the other song is more in the line of their gothic-electro style although revealing a refreshing sound production.

They next move on with totally reworked versions of their famous hits “Strasse Der Verdamnis” and “Herzschlag”. Last, but not least we get another –and definitely early-minded, version of “Strasse Der Verdamnis” plus another mix of “Timemachine”.

+ + + : Dorsetshire definitely was one of the most promising bands from the 90s German scene. To see this band getting back into business is a real positive thing. They also strike back with new ideas while getting us back to their two greatest hits. The best song remains the so-called “Gefecht Version” of “Strasse Der Verdamnis”, which is definitely close to the original edit. The title song is somewhat surprising because of the future-pop touch, but it’s an interesting track sung in English by Monaco X.

– – – : The original versions of “Strasse Der Verdamnis” and “Herzschlag” both are definitely more consistent and convincing than the ‘new’ versions. I think they’re missing power and the original ‘rough’ 90s touch.

Conclusion: Dorsetshire got an instant success at their debut and became a recognized band during the 90s thanks to a few great underground hits. Back to life after nearly 20 years of absence is not an easy thing, but let’s see what they’ll do next. I’m not totally convinced about this resurrection, but I need more new songs to get an opinion.

Best songs: “Strasse Der Verdamnis – Gefecht Version”, “Timemachine”.

Rate: (6½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Dorsetshire

Label: www.dansemacabre–group.de / www.facebook.com/dansemacabrerec

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

The German darkwave band Dorsetshire is back alive after a prologned silence that lasted 21 years (if you don’t count the few tracks and remixes that have been released here and there). The band has reunited now and has been re-recording some of their hits as well as new material which should be released in the next few months.

The band nowadays consists of frontman Monaco X, bassguitar player Mike, guitarist Andy Age, keyboardists Mr. H./Jogi/Bruno Kramm. It’s also in Kramm’s own studio where the band has been recording new material.

The band rose to fame with their debut CD “Das Letzte Gefecht” (1994) and the follow-up “Beast” (1996) after which the band called it quits in 1998.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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