Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Last year Rudy Ratzinger took us by surprise bringing :Wumpscut: back alive releasing the album “Fiedermavs 303”. And the resurrection moves on as we again get new stuff.

Content: The work takes off with the familiar “Justin Kohlenklau” (previously released as single) revealing the familiar punchy :W: sound which is danceable and elaborated. We next get three more songs revealing a ‘softer’- but recognizable style. The samplings remain an essential part of the work. The next part of the EP reveals instrumental edits of the same songs. 

+ + + : “Justin Kohlenklau” is a great song reminding us of the genius of Ratzinger. A bit of provocation, aggressive and dark sound treatments, Rudy’s familiar growls and a danceable cadence. The instrumental edit sounds pretty cool as well. 

– – – : I’m afraid the other tracks of the EP can’t totally convince me. The songs are repetitive and without a climax. So in the end we get a great song and EP fillers.

Conclusion: :Wumpscut: will always remain a legendary formation which accomplished multiple essential works in the Dark-Electro style but I can’t count this new work on the list.

Best songs: “Justin Kohlenklau”, “Justin Kohlenklau – Instrumental”.

Rate: 6½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100050495769385

Label: www.metropolis-records.com / www.facebook.com/MetropolisRecords Read the news on ‘For Those About To Starve’.

About :Wumpscut:

:Wumpscut: is a German electro-industrial project founded in May 1991 by Bavarian DJ Rudolf “Rudy” Ratzinger, originally based around club work in southern Germany and later associated with Munich and the wider Bavarian scene.

Ratzinger’s early demo “Defcon” (1991) led into the first full-length “Music for a Slaughtering Tribe” in 1993, followed by “Bunkertor 7” in 1995 and “Embryodead” in 1997.

From the mid-1990s onward he released much of his work through his own label Beton Kopf Media, while Metropolis Records handled several key titles for the US market. Albums such as “Boeses Junges Fleisch” (1999), “Wreath of Barbs” (2001), “Bone Peeler” (2004) and “Evoke” (2005) continued this pattern of parallel European and US editions in CD and vinyl formats.

Later releases extended the catalogue through “Cannibal Anthem” (2006), “Body Census” (2007), “Schaedling” (2008), “Fuckit” (2009), “Siamese” (2010), “Schrekk & Grauss” (2011), “Women and Satan First” (2012) and “Madman Szpital” (2013), many of them accompanied by limited box sets and DJ-oriented companion discs.

After the 2014 and 2015 albums “Bulwark Bazooka” and “BlutSpukerTavern” and the 2016 studio album “Wueterich”, Ratzinger briefly announced an end to new production. He returned with “Fledermavs 303” in 2021, and “For Those About To Starve” is the first EP of that second run. It was followed by “Giftkeks”/”Poison Cookie” (2023), “Schlossgheist” (2024) and “Chew Chew Chew” (2025), many of them made available via Bandcamp alongside limited physical editions.

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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