Grauwelt- Obsolete

Artist: Grauwelt

CD: Obsolete

Label: Lab-atory Records

Genre: Industrial/Gothic

Reviewer: Tim Yapko

Date: 3/30/09

Track List:

01: Without You

02: A Distance Between

03: An Accident

04: Warfare

05: Plague

06: Brutality (Featuring Bryan Black)

07: Evacuation

08: Bacteria

09: The Long Way

10: Baltic

   From start to finish, this Chicago based electronic project’s CD “Obsolete” gives off a raw analog 80’s feel that holds tight to a lot of electronic influences like Hip-Hop, Techno, Old Skool Industrial and DnB. Beautifully displaying horror score-like sounds and that old drummachine beat, this CD is definitely nodding to the Old Skool.

The first track, “Without You” is a very mellow beginning which holds a dark, droney overtone having low-pitched samples and a nice delay on the percussion. Very moody and creepy. This one just makes me what to dig out those old tapes that have collecting dust in my closet. The next track, “A Distance Between” has a nice, smooth ambient feel but still has the same moody feel of the first track. The next one has an old Techno and DnB feel kicking in a faster pace like that of an old horror flick when the plot twists into another part of the story. Perfectly placed at the right time. The next track, “Warfare” jumps right into a chaotic frenzy. The title to this one is definitely self-explanatory.

Let’s jump up one to the track “Brutality”. This one features vocals from Bryan Black, the frontman from “Motor” and the mastermind behind “Haloblack”. This track has the Synths and beats that make the Industrial influence very clear. And with Bryan on the vox-box, this one really stands out. I love it when someone from another project appears on someone else’s. It just shows that music collaboration can really make a difference, as well as turning other fans on to new stuff. I really like the ambience of the track “Bacteria”. If you could hear the sounds that bacteria makes while growing on something disgusting, this would probably be what you would hear. All grungy and choppy. Fantastic. Now let’s jump to the last track, “Baltic” on this ode to the past. Very mellow but fast at the same time. The drummachine kicks the tempo up as the synth voices remain slow and melodic. This style could make a track turn out really bad, but not this one. The sounds flow together very well. This is yet another last track that makes you want to start the whole thing over and listen to it again and again.

Check this wonderful project out at… www.myspace.com/grauwelt   and watch a hippy girl get turned into a vampire in the video to the track “Without You. Good stuff, kid.