Devil-M - Kannst Du Sterben

Artist: Devil-M

CD title: Kannst Du Sterben

Label: none

Genre: Industrial

Website: https://devil-m.bandcamp.com/

Reviewer: DJ Kantrip

Date: 07/27/2011

 Buy Here: https://devil-m.bandcamp.com/album/kannst-du-sterben

Kannst Du Sterben is the second full-length release from the German industrial band, Devil-M. Started in 2003 by Max Meyer, Devil-M creates a very bizarre sound that is atmospheric, dancy, rock-fueled, and downright creepy at times. Kannst Du Sterben and the debut release Willst Du Sterben are not linear trips or guided visits through Devil-M's musical world. Rather, they take the listener gently by the hand with their opening tracks and then thrust them into the ensuing musical chaos, while laughing manically.

Fans of Leather Strip, Nine Inch Nails, and Attrition will really enjoy this album and it's clear these are some of the major influences at play here. Starting off with the soft-spoken Can You Tell Me the Truth, the listener is lulled into a serene like trance before album jumps right into Hold Me which has hoarse whispers backing up a very distant but broken voices singing out to some unknown party for help. As Hold Me closes, Devil-M slips back into that reassuring quiet sound it opened the album with, and glides smoothly into a soft marching beat with Re-Inkarnation. From here the album keeps up a pattern of soft atmospheric instrumentals segueing into some really twisted industrial dance songs. The vocals shift between soft whispers, coarse screams, and cold calm speech that drips with unspoken ill-intentions. I get the impression that this album is a trip through a nightmare. Not the stereotypical shock-awe, can't wake up, fear-riddled nightmares, but the kind that start off innocently enough as random dreams and then dredged up the subtle terrors that stick with you through the following waking hours.

The album proper is about 9 tracks long, which closes out on the piano instrumental, Another Heart Inferno. The remaining 6 songs are all remixes of the more club-friendly tracks. Inside You, Hold Me, and Tomorrow are revisited by Ghost in the Static, Detuned Destruction, and Wilke Borchers. I personally felt that after Another Heart, dropping straight into the stomp fest that is the Destructed Remix of Inside you broke the spell that Devil-M had successfully cast over me for the previous 40 or so minutes.

All rude awakenings via remixes aside, Kannst Du Sterben is a flawless album that will appeal to anyone who likes their Industrial music weird and creepy.