Band:
Mario – vocals
Doreen – vocals
Michael – guitars
Wilko - bass
Diskography:
Darkchild (2006)
Guests:
Sven Friedrich - Vocals
Info:
Produced by Ron Thiele
mastering by Vincent Sorg, Peter „Pluto“ Neuber and Thorsten Wyk
Released 28/1-2011
Reviewed 28/1-2011
Links:
batflight.de
myspace
massacre
This is the second album by this band and the second that ends the name with child, the first one was a dark child and the other one the child of the moon. What we can also add is that it was five years between these two albums.
This second album by these Germans starts with some whipping and groaning that might actually steer the thoughts in other directions than the gothic metal one. After that we move more into the record we can say, it is faster and a bit more positive than the general gothic metal. Some might call it a bit commercial in its sound with lots of hit potential in several of the songs considering the catchy sound and choruses. The male vocals is much more noticeable than the female ones on the album and the production is clean and seems to be more focused on melodies than heaviness.
As I said earlier, there is some whipping and moaning in the opening track which then leads into the first real track which is called Gottlos and is the track that is supposed to pull you into the grip of the album. That is something it succeeds quite well with as this track is a really good starting track for an album. After that first track comes a few quite good tracks but not fantastic. Then comes the title track at place number five, that is a really good track, upbeat, fast gothic metal which I think is an excellent way to make gothic metal, I know many will not agree they only think it should be sort of slowish and morose but honestly fast and positive gothic metal is quite fun.
Another track that sort of makes my day on this record is the one called Lemuria which is another one of those fast paced hit songs that almost litter this album, which is of course fun for me as a listener. Also worth mentioning is the track called Metropolis which is also this kind of hit song as the ones I previously mentioned, I like gothic metal hit songs, why are they not played on the radio?
This album is as fun as a hit based gothic metal album, it has a very good atmospheric feel to it maybe a little helped by some classical influences that can be heard throughout the album. Maybe in a sense this album sounds a bit like the cover indicates, well done with that I think we can say.
There is one problem with this album though, not really that big but it is there and it is the time it takes to get through the eighteen tracks that are contained on this piece of plastic or the files or however you decide to listen to this album. It does actually take a little over 73 minutes to get through it and no matter how you look at it, that is a bit too long and I seriously think they should have cut away something like the last five tracks of which three are new versions of old songs from earlier releases anyway so these would be easy to cut away without problem and two more would have been quite easy to take away as well I think.
I believe this band should look at the expressions called “less is more” and “kill your darlings” had the band just listened to any of those it would not have been too much of the band.
Don’t get me wrong though, I still like this album and it feels often like a natural choice to play but towards the end I start to lack in focus and look towards what I am about to listen to next.
In the end though I find this album to be a great album with overall good songs but due to the length it feels a bit unfocused and I tire a bit towards the end but even so I find this album to be a great album nonetheless and with all those great hit songs it kind of remains in your mind. Katanga gives you the real good, a little too much of it.
HHHHHHH
