ReActivate- Reactivate Your Mind

Artist: ReActivate
CD Title: Reactivate Your Mind
Label: Synthetic Product Records
Reviewer: Matthew Johnson
Date: 1/23/06

The debut album from Germany’s ReActivate should be a pleasant surprise to fans of synthpop and EBM. It’s got everything necessary for massive club play: beats big enough to dance to, vocals catchy enough to stick in your head and electronic melodies energetic enough to keep you going. ReActivate are definitely on the pop end of the spectrum, and this album even features some slow, melancholy pieces like the catchy and futuristic “Stardriver” or the ethereal German-language “Lebenssinn,” which is perhaps the band’s prettiest offering. The majority of these tracks, though, are upbeat modern EBM with lots of techno and trance influences. Although the band’s zeal for bouncing dance numbers entails occasional excursions into cheesy territory – “Waiting for the Night” comes close to the late ‘90s disco of acts like Haddaway – for the most part these songs are put together very well. “Emotions” is infectious and uplifting, with progressive synth patterns and catchy electro beats, while “Last Wishes” and “Dream In Silence” strike a perfect balance between cold electronics and warm emotion, with flat mechanical vocals giving way to harmonic refrains. “Merciless” recalls Covenant with slick, hard-hitting beats and somber vocals, while “Another World” brings the trance influences to the foreground with soaring synths. “Won’t Forget These Days” closes the album out on a high note; it’s fast enough to dance to, slow enough to focus on the lyrics and detailed enough to keep your interest, with numerous progressions between high-energy dance rhythms and slower melodic interludes. An excellent debut that’s bound to garner plenty of attention from DJs and dancers alike, ReActivate Your Mind will appeal particularly to fans of VNV Nation and Assemblage 23.

ReActivate your own mind at www.reactivate.de.