Dein Schatten, Das Ewige Eis

It seems in Germany you can't walk three feet without bumping into a Goth-influenced Industrial / Darkwave band these days. In the CD player today is the latest from "Dein Schatten", or in English "Your Shadow". The one band most of you out there will be able to compare them to is of course, those happy Germans known as Rammstein, but Dein Schatten are a lot less "Metal", and a lot more ominous then those cats. The "band" is really a one-man army, and that man is Dieter Bornschlegel, AKA BornZero. BornZero has been playing music since the early 70s, and has been in numerous bands, with almost 40 LPs & CDs to his credit. There are a multitude of adjectives that can be used to describe the sound on "Das Ewige Eis"; Gothic, dark, electronic, Trance, Industrial, Darkwave, creepy, etc. You can probably figure it out from there. I have no idea what the songs are about, but the way BornZero delivers those lyrics, you just know he's not singing about sunshine and puppy dogs. And if he is, there the scariest puppies on the planet. Out of the packed, 14-track CD, I would say at least ten tunes are killer, with about three or four being filler. Some of the slower, low-key tunes don't do it for me, but for the most part, this is a great listen. A perfect disc for those times when you wanna keep it dark, but your current mood finds your Death-Metal collection too heavy, and your Sisters Of Mercy CDs too soft. For more info, check out

their official web page. However, it's all in German.

RATING = 7.5 Goth/Electronic/Metal (Released 2003)