Rotersand- Welcome to Goodbye

Artist: Rotersand
CD Title: Welcome to Goodbye
Label: Metropolis Records
Reviewer: Matthew Johnson
Date: 8-9-05

Melding techno, EBM, synthpop and even a hint of Pink Floyd, Rotersand’s second album is sure to garner plenty of attention from old-school EBM fanatics and new-school club kids alike. Starting off with the stony vocals and cinematic string washes of title track “Welcome To Goodbye,” the album then launches into a pounding series of all-out dance floor killers. “Dare To Live” and “Almost Wasted” combine house influences with a distinctly European vocal sensibility, while “LastShip” and “Alive” manage to be both poppy and aggressive in a manner reminiscent of Icon Of Coil. Towards the end of the disc, the ‘70s rock influences start to emerge again, with the upbeat synthpop track “All In All” starting out like an early David Bowie ballad transposed for piano and strings, and album outro “Angels Falling” returns to the Pink Floyd style of drawn out progressive keyboards and vocals drifting off into a haze. With solid roots in classic EBM and enough soaring synths and melodic vocals to keep the VNV Nation and Covenant fans happy, Rotersand have released an album with a tremendously broad appeal; next time you hit the club, it’s almost a guarantee the DJ will drop at least one of these tracks.

Visit www.rotersand.net for more information.