:Wumpscut:
Embryodead

In its intentions, EBM aims to be the most aggressive proposition within the vast dark universe. In reality, however, it has become a crowd-pleasing genre, and not surprisingly, it's the music we most often find ourselves dancing to at the trendiest gothic clubs: danceable, easy to play and listen to, wicked just right, and even better if there's room for a well-dressed bimbo, EBM has ended up becoming a true business.

The initial idea wasn't bad at all: mixing the violence of the most ruthless techno-trance with horror movie atmospheres, infusing it all with a bit of healthy punk-nihilist attitude is an alchemy that has nonetheless brought good results. Such as the entity :Wumpscut:, the flagship project of the entire scene.

Rudy Ratzinger is the man behind it all. “Embryodead”, from 1997, is the album to have if you want to understand what EBM is. Abrasive voice, repetitive beats, and gothic settings galore. Although a child of the nineties' dance, the imagery behind :Wumpscut: is that of a dark vampire inherited from the previous decade. It's the horrific keyboard riffs from "The Exorcist" and "Profondo Rosso", or the moments of futuristic suspension from a rainy "Blade Runner" that run wild, while the electronics here have nothing innovative. In a way, Ratzinger's is retro-garde electronics, electronics that do not at all aim to turn feelings into notes but get to the point: to move your ass! And it must be said that Ratzinger succeeds in the endeavor. That of shaking the listener and pushing them into mad dances on floors that are more infernal circles than dance floors.

A sort of afterlife DJ, Ratzinger makes the most of his elementary knowledge in the field of electronics, and, absolutely devoid of intellectual pretensions, sets up professionally (great sounds, great arrangements, great production overall), a sort of electro-punk bacchanal with a sure impact. "Golgotha" and the title track, rhythmic and hammering, open the dance, but the best comes with the ensuing triplet: "Down Where We Belong" shines with a vaguely glam attitude that closely reminds me of the most irreverent Alice Cooper; "Slave to Evil" is heart-attack techno-trance, an insistent, hypnotically moving crescendo that won't fail to fuse our neurons: "War", the most violent episode of the lot (complete with blast beats at full throttle in the finale), is massive danceable industrial that perfectly conveys how a rave in the middle of a battlefield might sound.

The handful of remaining tracks are less engaging. "It is You" yields to melodic temptations that frankly clash with the "bad boy" context that Ratzinger had managed to craft. "Pest" flows anonymously, while the two gothic ballads placed at the end, "Angel" and "Stillbirth", reveal the more commercial and crowd-pleasing side of the German project, and in my humble opinion, sound quite out of place, somewhat like a spoonful of honey on shit. But it's a matter of taste, fans of horror-gothic atmospheres might swoon with delight.

As for me, I prefer to bewilder myself with track number 8, "Womb", which stands out titanically among these more sugary episodes. "Womb" in fact is nothing other than the sonic explicitness of the concept vaguely behind the album, dedicated to "all those fetuses that wisely died in their mother's womb, thus not tasting this cruel world of blind hatred". The piece is actually a gem of pure and authentic kitsch, where on the usual carpet of horror dance moves Ratzinger's menacing deformed voice, which mimics the shrill voice of a fearsome embryo telling us how miserable our existence is, directly from the mother's belly!

What to say in conclusion: Ratzinger is a master of the genre. It remains to be seen whether the genre interests or not. This is tacky music to dance to, folks. Nothing more, nothing less. And if you want to dance, and summer hits have literally fried your brains, then get “Embryodead” as soon as possible, grab a walkman and mingle in the humanoid herd of those shitty clubs dotted along the coast. Compared to the confines of your rooms, your chances of meeting your soulmate will increase! And summer will smile upon you...