From: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Al Crawford)
Subject: Review: Die Krupps - I
Reply-To: awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Al Crawford)
Organization: The University Of Edinburgh - Department Of Computer Science
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 13:08:43 GMT
Followup-To: rec.music.industrial


Die Krupps		I			Our Choice RTD 195 1266 2 [Ger]

	1.	High Tech/Low Life		3:04
	2.	Metal Machine Music		4:07
	3.	Doppelganger			5:04
	4.	The Dawning Of Doom		3:50
	5.	Ministry Of Fear		5:00
	6.	One				4:59
	7.	Simply Say No			3:57
	8.	Disciples Of Discipline		4:46
	9.	The Power			5:22
	10.	Rings Of Steel			4:44

This, Die Krupps first genuinely new album since 1984's _Entering The
Arena_, marks something of a change in style from their last two singles
"Germaniac" and "The Machineries Of Joy", both of which were Nitzer Ebb-ish
synth-based industrial dance tracks.

You're lulled into a false sense of security by "High Tech/Low Life" which,
apart from Ruediger Esch's incessant bass grinding along in the basement,
wouldn't sound out of place next to either of their previous singles. The
clean, clinical synth rhythms are still there, topped by Juergen Engler's
strongly accented vocals (singing in English this time) and a sprinkling of
electronic effects and samples (some of which are beautifully deep and
clear).

The style begins to diverge rather more noticeably in "Metal Machine Music"
where guitars dominate and the synths fall into a subsidiary role. The
route the group has taken is not unlike that taken by Nine Inch Nail's
Trent Reznor, moving away from synths and towards heavy, thrashy guitars
albeit with a less distinctive and rather half-hearted sound. A shame, as
it's the sheer mindless repetition of the guitars that spoils what would
otherwise be a rather good track. "Why do we act like machines?" Good
question, maybe somebody could flip Mr Esch's off-switch.

"Doppelganger" also features more grinding guitars but the balance tips
back slightly in the opposite direction, the song having more in the way of
a tune and an audible synth melody, and rather less in the way of overdone
guitar work.

From the intro to "The Dawning Of Doom" you might think you were listening
to a techno track, but it's not too long before the guitars power up.
Admittedly, the combination works rather better here, sounding a little
like KMFDM, a fusion of synth-based dance music and heavy metal guitars.

Speaking of intros, "Ministry Of Fear" starts out sounding suspiciously
like something Depeche Mode or Recoil might put out, but soon builds into a
rather more grandiose, melodramatic piece until, once again, the guitars
sneak in and proceed to stomp over everything.

Given that up to this point a number of otherwise perfectly good songs have
been spoilt by Esch's cliched heavy metal bass work, the execution of the
sixth track is rather ironic. This heavily synthesised tapestry of samples
(of US Marines) and subtle, tuneful synth melodies is...a cover of a
Metallica song. It's quite possibly the high-point of the album, although
whether this is due to the weakness of the other songs or the group for
once playing in the musical style with which they are most commonly
associated, I wouldn't want to say.

"Simply Say No"? Good advice should anyone suggest you listen to this
track, it's just more of the same.  "Disciples Of Discipline" is rather
more palatable, and the legacy of Ralf Doerper's time with Propaganda
becomes more evident, since the basic rhythm here is nabbed from that
group's "Thought". Nice samples too. Yes, the guitars *are* still churning
away, but this track's strong enough to survive.

"The Power" is more of the usual stuff, high BPM techno with frenetic bass
riffing over the top. "Rings Of Steel" goes all the way - it's not a fusion
of anything, it's a 2nd rate heavy metal track.

To summarise, rather sad. Several potentially good tracks have been
strangled at birth by Esch's over-eager attempts to become some sort of
bass guitar god for those with a two second attention span. Had the
execution of this album been closer stylistically to the group's earlier
work, it'd have been reasonably good, no classic but listenable. As it is,
on all but a couple of the tracks, the instant things seem to get
interesting, That Bloody Guitar resurfaces and proceeds to mosh all the
tracks into a homogenous mess. A disappointment.

Erland Rating: -1
Crawford Rating: Black/Potato/Rottweiler

--
			Al Crawford - awrc@dcs.ed.ac.uk
	  Department Of Computer Science, The University of Edinburgh
   Rm 1410, JCMB, Kings Buildings, Mayfield Rd, EDINBURGH, EH9 3JZ, Scotland
	     Tel: +44 (0) 31 650 5165  Fax: +44 (0) 31 667 7209
Newsgroups: rec.music.reviews,rec.music.misc