Wumpscut
"Wreath of Barbs"
(Metropolis)

Warning: For extreme Industrial music lovers only! Wumpscut lives up to his reputation, a true dark master of EBM/Industrial music. It fits in nicely with the likes of Skinny Puppy & VNV Nation. The CD cover is quite unusual, in that it's a simple graphic representation of a wreath of barbs, rather than the typical distorted photos of Wumpscut's previous releases. In fact, the day I picked up this album, I saw another female clubber with a spanking new tattoo of this cover art. I must say, it makes a striking tat!! This CD is also unlike his previous releases because you don't actually hear his voice on many of the tracks. There are several tracks with female vocalists.

After 9-11, the first song epitomized how I think every angry American felt deep down inside. Titled "Opening the Gates of Hell", it's full of vengeance, disgust, & utter horror. (I recommend dancing to this song to vent your pent up frustrations about this particular event- it's very therapeutic.) The second track, called "Deliverance", is a combination of his grizzly vocals with samples & caustic lyrics over contrasting smooth musical tones. He also distorts his voice to sound like a robot from a sci-fi flick. The title track, "Wreath of Barbs", is a superb combination of haunting lyrics accompanied by mournful synth cries & drum machine style beats. It's worthy of it's place as the album title. My insight into the lyrics makes me believe they may have been inspired by the awful Holocaust. He is from Germany, after all. "Dr. Thodt" features a female voice. She doesn't sing, merely speaks the words. It adds to the sense of inhumane character such a Doctor would have. It reminds me of a TV show on Fox Family I saw. A family went to a haunted island where a sadistic Doctor had been known to torture his patients. "Mankind's Disease" only has one sample of a man's voice, remarkably similar to Jack Nicholson (probably isn't him). The voice offers a sort of apology for being so cruel. I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this one. It's theme goes well with track 8, "Line of Corpses". It starts with another sample of someone asking for forgiveness. This track indicates that Rudy Ratzinger (aka, Wumpscut) has been listening to Die Form. It is much more malicious than any of their songs I've heard. The track I like most is "Christf**k". It's a poignant song about taking chances in romance, because life is short. "Troops Under Fire" is very similar to "Dr. Thodt", because the female voice merely speaks, rather than sings. I particularly like this song because of it's melody. "Hate is Mine" also features a female voice at the intro. Then you hear Wumpscut's gravelly voice chanting in time to a heavy beat. "Bleed in Silence" features an obvious sample from Alien Resurrection, Wynona Ryder & Sigourney Weaver. It has a soothing quality to it, which I didn't expect of Wumpscut. The last track, "Eclips"e is by far the most poetic song on this album. I spent quite a few minutes listening to the intro trying to decipher Wumpscut's English words spoken with a German accent. This is my second favorite track. Overall, this one man "band" has wowed me again. He inspires me to reach higher goals in my own life. If he did it, why can't I?

-Heather