Oomph!
Glaube Liebe Tod

After the great revival accompanied by a disruptive and unexpected commercial success of "Warheit Oder Pflicht" in 2004, it's time for confirmations in the Oomph! household: the band has now overcome its most difficult moment, with fourteen years of activity behind them and eight albums to their name, Dero, Crap, and Flux can now be considered seasoned buccaneers, experience is on their side, and "Warheit Oder Pflicht" represents an excellent starting point to work from. With all these favorable premises, the next album does not take too long to appear, taking shape in 2006 with an intriguing and evocative title, "GlaubeLiebeTod".

At first glance, the ninth album of the Wolfsburg trio's history does not differ much from its fortunate predecessor, but compared to WOP it shows greater attention to songwriting and tighter sounds: "GlaubeLiebeTod" is the hardest album by Oomph! since the turn taken in 1999 with "Plastik" up to the present day, and it is distinguished by a truly formidable "battery" of singles, the best in the band's history along with that of "Monster": the most disruptive weapon is undoubtedly "Gott Ist Ein Popstar", strong with its appealing and plush electronic beat that highlights an explosive refrain: the music video for the song, which is sarcastically styled like that of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," is a powerful satire with an easily inferred target, contextualized precisely in 2006, the year in which the Vatican's absolute monarchy was on everyone's lips due to the election of the new sovereign and the spectacular canonization of the previous one, which caused quite a few upsets, with various sorts of boycotts, among various religious conservative groups that labeled it as heresy. However, "Gott Ist Ein Popstar" is not the only demonstration of how this album is also lyrically inspired: the rougher sound of "Das Letzte Streicholz", which more faithfully represents the overall mood of "GlaubeLiebeTod," captures the dreadful consequences of child abuse in a ruthless and almost paroxysmal way, while "Die Schlinge", shows the return of a more eclectic creativity that was a bit missing in "Warheit Oder Pflicht": musically enhanced by the gothic touch of the Finnish cellists Apocalytica and the sampling of "Man With A Harmonica" by Morricone, it is an almost ironic reflection on death, set in an exotic, mysterious, and surreal atmosphere.

In keeping with the theme of stylistic variations, "GlaubeLiebeTod" is enriched by the presence of a gem like "Eine Frau Spricht Im Schlaf", with its sinister and nocturnal atmosphere highlighted by a piano and gloomy and lingering synthesizers that almost harken back to the instrumental interludes of "Wunsckind," with the addition of Dero's voice, who performs with the class of a seasoned theater actor, a text that ventures into the realms of obsession and madness. Also noteworthy are "Traumst Du?", whose promotional version is enhanced by the presence of Marta Jandová, the beautiful and talented frontwoman of Die Happy, who embellishes a well-done single and plays the role of the leading lady in the video clip, "Land Im Sicht", which maintains a certain stylistic and expressive elegance despite the hardness of Dero's sound and vocals, and the concluding "Zuviel Liebe Kann Dich Toten", which in contrast to the rather saturated atmosphere of the rest of "GlaubeLiebeTod," offers a more laid-back and relaxed sound, almost at the limits of an electronic-tinged pop rock despite a decidedly dark and crepuscular text.

The interesting, pleasant, and varied landscape of "GlaubeLiebeTod" is completed by a handful of simpler, faster, and more rhythmic songs, the best example of which is undoubtedly "Tanz In Den Tod", and a nice bonus track, the frenetic "Menschsein", whose abrasive riffing and Dero's "old style" singing bring to mind the glory of the '90s, thus sealing another great achievement for the trio, which demonstrates its ability to withstand the passage of time with new ideas, enthusiasm, and inspiration; barring any huge surprises, there will never be a new "Wunschkind," but it is just as certain that the flop "Ego" is destined to remain an isolated case for a band that, like good wine, is aging beautifully.