STAHLWERK 9

"RetroMekanik"

Steinklang Industries - 2009

CD / CD + CDr - 200 copies

This Stahlwerk 9 release, also available in a limited edition of 200 copies with bonus CDr included, was born as a retrospective collection of unreleased tracks, covering a period between 1999 and 2007. Most of them were intended for compilations that never saw the light, and there's also two brand-new and excellently recorded live songs. The sound doesn't shift very often along the eleven titles, constantly moving between noisy ambient and primitive power-electronics.

From the initial French radio message of "Warsaw Calling / Als Ich Starb", it's a descent into a dusty and grey environment of cog-wheel machineries and late 19th Century mines, where the most interesting moments are represented by the furnace thuds and loudspeaker voice of "Elektrische Sonnnen" and the hypnotic rhythm with creepy crawling synths of "Pe Culmile Disperarii". As for the rest, there's a large amount of rather boring speeches ("Overture To A War"), distorted frequencies ("Radio Budapest"), and a blend of moody, distant classical-like melodies with noise, much in the vein of certain Les Joyaux De La Princesse releases ("Vengeance").

Stahlwerk 9 completists will find this collection very tasty, while the others won't discover anything that hasn't already be heard on several dozens of other releases in the last fifteen years, including those put out by the German project itself since 1995. For die-hard industrial freaks only.

- Simon V.

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/stahlwerk9