Dunkelwerk - Operation: Duesterland

I've never been a big fan of Dunkelwerk, nor did I spend that much time listening to his last two records. But the time I did spend with them left me with a bittersweet aftertaste in my mouth. All the elements I did enjoy on his earlier work are still present with 'Operation: Duesterland', the problem however is that the elements I didn't like are much more apparent on this release.

The beats, the production and the very idea of concept albums is all good. I must say the music itself is really well executed, some really awesome pounding beats with top notch production. The problem is that the music is somewhat inconsistent. A song can start out really well and then take a totally different turn, which in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it is.

Everything just gets so carved up and put back together leaving a lot of loose ends. The album really struggles to put itself in a definable category, and it just leaves you confused. Another thing is the vocals, which are basically just spoken words throughout the whole album, ranting really. It just doesn't work very well, and becomes extremely tedious after a few songs. Hell, I even found myself annoyed at one point, thinking that if he just had a little more straightforward approach to the songs, it would have been a hell of a lot better. Because when it's good, it's really good. For the most part the songs starts off with a good addictive beat, but then suddenly it goes all downward spiral on you (not the NIN record, I would have killed for that). It should have just stuck with the formula that works, instead it tries to incorporate too many elements into the music. Even the transitions aren't that smooth, and it becomes very obvious that the music is trying to renew itself, even when it shouldn't have. This record just don't benefit from all the experimentation, and trying so hard to be more than it really should be, ultimately becomes it's downfall.

If you already know and like Dunkelwerk's previous efforts, you're all in the clear. If you don't however, this will not be the album that put's you in that category.

And all that could have been (another NIN reference, unintentionally) is something that comes to mind with this one. All the good things really don't outweigh the bad ones, and at the end all you're left with is really just bits and pieces of good, just put together in a really bad and wrong way. Feb 07 2013