Sad news: The music world mourns the loss of Ray Manzarek (74), founding Member and keyboarder of The Doors, White Zombie drummer Phil Buerstatte (44) and Uriah Heep bassist Trevor Bolder (63). R.I.P.!
German Hardrockers BERSERKER will donate 18.000€ to the Berlin cancer charity for children on May 25. November 2011 BERSERKER front man Schröder was diagnosed with cancer, now he is cancer-free. In 2012 the band collected money for this charity at their concerts and will also continue to do so in the future. Slayer´s Jeff Hanneman is dead: he passed away at about 11AM on May 2nd near his Southern California home because of liver failure due to an infection after a spider bite. R.I.P. Jeff!
The Siberian Jay music video "I´m Holding" featuring Mikko Sirén from Apocalyptica on drums - we reported about the videoshoot in our "1h with" Special - can be watched here: http://youtu.be/C-hSNurZVcs
AlterRed from London belong to the Post-Wave movement of our era, meticulously searching for new tonal pathways and thereby putting on massive structures that have emerged in the 80s. And they make it terrific with their new and second album "Dollstown". The effects of Ultra Vox, Aha or Depeche Mode to Duran Duran as a pattern shimmer through the compositions, like a spice they enhance the flavour. Experimental synth-pop with analogue character blends in with almost a classic New Wave, always highly entertaining and always exciting. The slightly morbid, also in glossy elegance trimmed atmosphere of that time is a transposition in the computer-generated sound-games of 2012.
AlterRed fortunately does not get lost in the vastness of programming, because of very clear guidelines. In addition to controlled song structure and concentrated rhythm, the voice is it that gives the band its character. Without this the lack of real band personality and talent for melodies would faster come to light. It is not the main weakness that the vocal part doesn´t vary much, but the fact that very little material offers the so-called "recognition value". The songs run smoothly on a high but uniform level there.
You listen, you will find a lot fascinating, some of it is danceable, much dazzling as the lifting of a curtain in front of an acoustic cabaret, but the overview get confused to differ between the songs. In parts appear strong memories of the band Split Enz, who also loved the stylish cross-over musical theater show, btw. also the vocal technique sounds similar. A kind of irritation arise - if you dig long and deep enough, you can find enough tunes in the 70s and 80s, which were to these times new, fresh and real, but today are used as a variation and therefore ain´t no longer avant-garde.
The melody is the heart of a song. From all other AlterRed have a lot to offer, brain, genitals and internal organs. But the heart is still not really noticeable beating. In the end stays the impression of a strong performance, which still has potential to develop ahead.
Tracklist: 01. Dollstown
02. And We Disappear
03. Rebuild Rewire
04. Safe
05. Eve
06. In Recovery
07. And The Machine
08. A Different Face
09. Torn & Tied
10. As She Circles The Drain
