Wolfchild – Stahlbeton (EP – Advoxya Records)
Genre/Influences: EBM, Dark-Electro.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: This new work by the duo Robert Van Kooij (The Netherlands) – Jan Ricker (Germany) has been presented as an EP. It features five new songs plus three instrumental bonus cuts so in the end it rather looks like a mini-album. “Stahlbeton” is the second work released on Advoxya Records and the next release after the great album “Evil Calls Home” (2019).
Content: The five new songs are moving on with power and rage. It feels a bit like Wolfchild became harder and more evil in their global approach. Some passages again remind me of the EBM power of Tyske Lüdder, but the songs also feature Dark-Electro leads and other haunting atmospheres. Most of the songs are sung in German, but you’ll notice English vocals.
The bonus tracks are totally different. Here we get 3 instrumental edits, which are also a bit slower and empowered by guitar riffs. One of the songs reminds me of the tormented sphere of the last Acylum-album.
+ + + : Wolfchild simply confirms their potential illustrated on previous works. The 5 new songs are pure rage and driven by adrenaline. The songs are remarkably worked out, carried by icy leads and driven by stumping rhythms. The furious vocals of Jan Ricker only increase the state of violence emerging from these songs. “Paranoia” is an absolute masterpiece, but I also have to mention “Snow In April”, and “Vom Tod Begehrt”.
– – – : The instrumental songs reveal another side of the band, which is clearly more into a kind of EBM soundtrack. It’s not bad at all, but a little bit of an antithesis to the rest of the work. The title song isn’t my favorite.
Conclusion: “Stahlbeton” is a great and dark EBM production, which I can only, but highly recommend for the five main tracks.
Best songs: “Paranoia”, “Snow In April”, “Vom Tod Begehrt”, “Stahlbeton”.
Rate: 8.
Artist: www.facebook.com/wolfchildelectro
Label: www.advoxya-records.com / www.facebook.com/pages/Advoxya-Records/265765706059
About Wolfchild
Wolfchild is a Dutch-German dark electro and EBM duo. Robert van Kooij writes the music, while Jan Ricker handles lyrics and vocals.
The project self-released the single “Massacre Of Innocents” in 2016, followed by “Sunt Mala Quae Libas” in 2017 and “Fear No Evil” in 2018. “Evil Calls Home” was the first release on Advoxya Records, in 2019. The duo set out its approach in the Click Interview with Wolfchild in June 2020.
“Stahlbeton” followed in 2021 and was also issued as part of a three-CD box set on the same label. The album “Sanctuary” appeared in 2022.
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.
