CD, Black Rain, 2009
www.tyske-ludder.de
Once again combining old-school EBM sensibilities with contemporary electro construction, Tyske Ludder bring us some of the catchiest electronic body music from the “dark side” available today. Tracks like “Shokkz” deliver some of the most memorable hooks in the genre since Suicide Commando’s iconic “Hellraiser”. If ever a song was destined for cellular ringtone, this track’s high-pitched chorus synth melody fulfils that function.
It seems that, while most people mellow with age, no such thing is happening to this band: as well as maintaining a heavy schedule of live performances (including a regular spot at the M’era Luna Festival), they have managed, on “Anonymous”, to put together one of the most beat-driven, thumping dance albums in contemporary dark electro and EBM. Despite the proliferation of ‘terror-EBM’ acts filling dancefloors with regurgitated, stale beats, Tyske Ludder bring their wealth of experience to bear and blast impersonators and upstarts out the water, showing the ‘fashionable’ bands like Combichrist, Reaper and many others what electro-industrial really should sound like.
But “Anonymous” isn’t all crowd-pleasing, hands-in-the-air dance music. It’s also another important evolutionary step in their musical journey. While Albert-X’s unmistakeable vocal style brands this record as 100% Tyske Ludder, this newest album adds new dimensions to the sound of the “German Whore”. For example, tracks like “Fixthebeat” feature English vocals – quite a departure for a band known for its typically teutonic signature. They also perform a very passable cover of the Jesus & the Gurus track, “Panzer”.
While the “SCIENTific technOLOGY” EP was undeniably political in nature, “Anonymous” seems likely to tread on less toes – especially in non-German-speaking countries, where the majority of people won’t have the faintest clue of what they’re singing about… In all, it’s a far more accessible album, and one that will undoubtedly garner further well-deserved recognition for Tyske Ludder.
[8/10]
— David vander Merwe