Reviews

Wumpscut – Schrekk & Grauss

2011/05/22

I can’t say I was overly elated when I heard Rudy Ratzinger was doing yet another album in 2011. It seems he is trying to break some kind of world record by releasing a new studio full-length every year. 2010’s ‘Siamese studies’ was a mixed bag at best; it felt a bit forced and bland. So here we go again with the release of ‘Schrekk & Grauss’ to the ‘not so’ starving masses.

Featuring some rather bizarre cover artwork, that might leave people second-guessing the contents even more. It somewhat reminds me of ‘Salad fingers’ dancing with a creation straight out of the ‘Star Wars’ franchise. But let’s try and be objective here, the music should convey all I need to make my judgments.

‘Rudolf Wolzek’ sounds more like the older Wumpscut, with its thumping rhythms and repetitive vocal style. This could work on the dance-floor methinks…The title track is similar in attitude and implementation, rather catchy and hard-hitting. Not everything here is designed solely for club-goers though. A slower and more contemplative track ‘Muselmann’ brings the listener down to a more melancholic tone. Moments of experimentation also don’t escape this release as heard on ‘Patient A.’ with its peculiar effects that sound almost trance-like.

There are however, predominantly more ‘ harder’ tunes that feature here. Which in my eyes is of course, a good thing. I feel that I can enjoy this album more than the last few releases. So when all is said and done, this is generally an improvement. While I’ve never been the world’s biggest Wumpscut fan, satisfaction is to be had from ‘Schrekk & Grauss’ afterall.

—Kevin King (Terror_Binary)