LAUGHTER - The Dark Wave

Though it is pretty easy to see at least one of the influences on Laughter's musical journey from the title of the EP, that does not mean they don't deserve a proper introduction. Laughter is a project formed by two friends in Wuppertal, Germany that was born in 2012. The original intent of the project was to dive into synthpop territory, as seen on their goodbye-to-that-phase EP "Early Worx". However, channeling their dark electronic music side, Christian "Chriz" Dietrich (lyrics, vocals, programming) and Sven "S.K." Klarovskis (producer, guitars, programming) are now looking to darkwave, industrial, and EBM as their primary influences. Thus, 2021 marks a bit of a reboot for the project; "The Dark Wave" is a renewed effort at the project looking to the previously mentioned genres. 



Thus, the album starts with the title track 'Dark Wave'. Gritty and scratchy vocals (a mainstay for the rest of the EP) dominate the track as a slow, pulsating rhythm makes up a majority of the track. During the chorus where the line "Here comes the dark wave" is repeated, crunchy guitars add to the beat and give it a rougher edge. For an intro track, it's very well done. 'Flashback' continues in similar effort to 'Dark Wave'; it's a slow beat but there's an added atmospheric edge to the song. I do feel as if the mixing was a bit off on this track, as the vocals (take the one-minute and forty-second mark to the one-minute and fifty-second mark for example) tend to dominate the music. Both elements, vocals and instrumentals alike, are well done so I think they should both be heard equally. 

'Everything is Fine' is where Laughter brings out their EBM beats and creates a stomping ground. The four-minute track is a straight club-banger which has some wicked synth work a little past the two-and-a-half minute mark. 'Break a Man' continued with a bit of the dance element that was present in 'Everything is Fine'. That being said, I felt more of an electro-industrial influence on this song than straight EBM. That's a great thing, though, as variation allows an EP to extend its wings and fly higher - as is the case with "The Dark Wave". 

Aside from "Early Worx", I have not listened to any of Laughter's previous material, therefore I cannot speak of any nostalgia factors or if I preferred their older material to their new material. That being said, what has been brought to the table in 2021 is a pretty solid reimagining of the project. The music is varied enough to make sure it does not get stale; the vocals are pretty similar on each track, but that's an issue that can be tackled in future releases. 'Flashback' does have some segments where the vocals takeover too harshly, but the rest of the song is solid. Seven-out-of-ten. I'm curious to see where Laughter will take their next release. 

This review was commissioned through our Ko-fi page.
Apr 04 2021