21 : JULY : 06
Mick Mercer reviews Krankhaus : Original Review

ANGELSPIT - KRANKHAUS (Angelspit)
You want flies with that?

Now this is more like it. After a few days of reviewing records drenched in modern technology which aren’t delivering the goods, Angelspit march into the sonic postal system, and simply take control. We then flail wildly, as they rarely forget to deploy a smart melody, with a cool detachment just as likely to ease through a song as venom being distilled then spat with precision. A duo that involves others in the masterplan, they’ve created a superb album, but still have a way to go because their faults are clear. We’ll come to those later, but for the moment let’s celebrate the adventurous, and imaginative tumult you can experience.

‘A La Mode, A La Mort’ is minxy technopop with raw, filthy energy, a haunting, halter-top chorus, and sidling past the angry synth smackdown a warm, wriggling vocal attack. ‘Vena Cava’ has scalded, furious vocals and brilliantly lyrical snapshots to accompany the grim, gnashing beat, and ‘Elixir’ is another angry stamping display with engagingly memorable lines and heavily undulating framework.

‘100%’ is gorgeous. “Televise my poison, spitting at the screen / Keep the masses deluded, with fabricated dreams / Powdered God in a bag, from the Vatican / I want you to fuck off, as hard as you can.” That’s them on the naughty step all year! ‘Juicy’ then calms it down but still with a rigid tone around the sensitive, shape shifting words and ‘Flesh Stitched Onto A Frame’ is where a problem emerges. Maybe this has a place in their overall concept for this record but to me this is idle twangy strumming, that accomplishes nothing beyond irritation. Luckily something instantly sweeps in to make amends.

“With this bass I thee shake,” goes the chunky intro to ‘Make You Sin’, after which cool verbal clips are loaded one after the other in a slick, pulsating little bastard of a tune. ‘Get Even’ continues the heaving harangue on the unsuspecting, but they needed to incorporate more changes than one minute vocal annex included here. The relentless attack is great but it can start to blunt their overall effect, although with get mad/get even stanzas it brings to mind the late great Age Of Chance and that’s always a good thing.

‘Dead Letter’ blasts with a raw riff burrowing into direct dart of a seething club pulse, with a staccato delivery that then gathers into a much tougher, rasping chorus and that’s a fine touch. ‘Black Wine’ moves away into weirder, lighter waters with chiming instrumentation but without a new take on existing vocal sentiments it doesn’t make much sense in instrumental form. It isn’t adding something, it’s presenting a separate view. ‘Scars And Stripes’ shows they can introduce a more bloated, slimy rhythm, with sighing, swivelling singing that has a gracious feel but again it doesn’t quite delineate its content sharply enough.

‘Create Desire’ sees them sweep back onto mad antics that gyrate beautifully, and I love the words “chaos injects, rip apart, create desire, eat your heart”. Admittedly for the first few plays I thought they were singing, ‘rip a pie, create desire’ and was flummoxed. It has a fluted, grating mass which impresses. ‘Wolf’ goes on the offensive but with a less mottled broodiness, follows its predecessor with a munching fury and then into the closing ‘Wreak Havoc’, there to send you off with an invitation to riot and unleash Hell. It rattles along sharply but without the infernal impact of the opening tracks, but that’s only a minor quibble.

Overall this is a fantastic debut from a band who have taken their time wisely (right down to the exquisite artwork) to offer musical malice aforethought and if they can find a way to vary the sharp rhythmical curses they unleash it’s going to take them somewhere fantastic. At the moment similar stark beats hinders the chance of songs growing, leaving things a little too obvious, but that’s seeing them compared to others and where they stand in the overall scheme of things. Judging this record on its own merits it’s striking, and full of tempting timebombs you’ll be grateful to have surging through your mind as you wander nocturnal streets. Strap it on whenever you go out.

http://angelspit.net – great downloads
http://www.myspace.com/krankhaus - ditto

- Mick Mercer