Fragile as a flower of ice and equally beautiful. That’s how one could summarize Unter dem Eis, Eisblume’s very first release, which hit the stores on 16th May. And boy, what a first release! With just four tracks, one of which is actually a remix of the title song, and clocking in at just under 17 minutes it can only barely be considered an EP, but then again, not a single minute of those is wasted.

This is achieved by alternating between grandiose, orchestral walls of sound and distant, fragile pianoes and utilizing some carefully picked pop elements and most importantly, Ria’s incredible voice. Although the aforementioned elements aren’t the most innovative things you can imagine, with the help of Ria it holds Eisblume’s music together and makes it stand out. Excellent production values all over just accentuate the amount of thought and work has been put into this project.

The title track begins by treating the listener to some tender, distant sounds before the angel-like voice of the real iceflower herself, the singer Ria, takes over. Then the song crescendoes into the chorus… It’s frail, it’s emotional and it’s melancholic but at the same time it’s surprisingly massive and epic. Almost the same goes for the rest of the EP. Track number three, Zeit zu gehen, is as powerful as Unter dem Eis, whereas in the last track Louise Ria is accompanied by just a piano for a large part of the song. Even the remix of Unter dem Eis doesn’t feel like filler. It sounds more like the alternative direction Eisblume could’ve taken by bringing in a lot more guitars and being a lot heavier overall.

All in all, Unter dem Eis is absolutely fantastic, probably one of the very best debut releases ever and one of the best releases this year. Is it groundbreaking? Well, no, but damned if it doesn’t sound great and leave you wanting more. All the songs stand out on their own, and are just as single-class material as the title song, and even the remix of the latter earns its place with its substantially differnet take on it. I’m eager to find out if the forces behind this project are able to conjure up a whole album that’s as complete and thorough as Unter dem Eis. For all you who don’t mind a touch of pop in your gothic rock and enjoy an expertly produced piece of music, Eisblume is something you should not miss.

Check out our previous coverage on Eisblume and Unter dem Eis for tracklisting, a video and more.

Straftanz’s EP released today

Straftanz released their EP Tanzt Kaputt, Was Euch Kaputt Macht! today (16th May). This is Straftanz’s second release since their self-titled debut EP. Straftanz’s music is straightforward industrial dance music with some clear EBM influences. You can get an idea of this sonic assault on their MySpace, where they have a couple of generous samples from the current EP and also some older material for you to listen.

You can order the fresh EP with a pretty atrocious cover from at least Alphamusic.de for 5,49 €, or if you’re in the States, you can find it at Isotank for $11,99.

I’ve hidden the tracklisting for Tanzt Kaputt, Was Euch Kaputt Macht! and also a video for the title song behind the link at the end of the post.

Unheilig’s next EP to be Spiegelbild

Following the smashingly successful album Puppenspiel and the accompanying single An Deiner Seite, Unheilig will be releasing a new EP in July. Spiegelbild, track #2 on Puppenspiel was chosen by the fans in an extensive voting to be the next EP, just like the previous Unheilig EPs Freiheit and Astronaut. And, just like those ones, Spiegelbild will boast numerous versions of the title song and other tracks from Puppenspiel and also some all-new material recorded specifically for the EP. Unfortunately, no tracklisting has been published as of yet. Spiegelbild will be released on 19th July, and it will be limited to just 3333 copies worldwide. The most certain way of obtaining this release seems to be through emso.de, but you’ll have to wait till June 1st to preorder it.

If you somehow still aren’t familiar with Unheilig’s magnificent, electronically enhanced rock antics, you can check out a few samples on Unheilig’s MySpace site. Additionally, you can watch the video for the latest single cut An deiner Seite hidden behind the link.

Eisblume’s Unter Dem Eis

And finally, just a reminder: the lovely gothic pop band Eisblume just released their debut EP Unter dem Eis today! See the previous post on the subject for track listing, a video for the title song and more.

(more…)

Eisblume is a new melancholic pop project fronted by Ria, the singer and creative force of the band. Eisblume’s career in the music world will be started with the EP Unter dem Eis, which will be released on the 16th of May, and it will later be followed by a full-length album as stated in an interview with Ria in the latest German Orkus magazine. Unfortunately, there’s hardly any extensive information on the band anywhere, just check out Eisblume’s own website for proof. I guess it’s still under construction, as the band is really very new.

Eisblume’s music seems to be a lovely combination of almost excessive melancholy, fragile vocals, chilly winter themes, atmospheric, soft pianoes and just a slight touch of heavier elements thrown into the mix. If you are interested, you should head to Eisblume’s MySpace site, where you can find generous samples of four songs from the upcoming EP and album. You can also watch the video for Unter dem Eis embedded below. Unter Dem Eis can be ordered at Alphamusic.de for 5,49 €, but I’m afraid I wasn’t able to find it anywhere else

Important note from Greg: Don’t confuse this new band with the other existing band called Eisblume (this one is at Eisblume.net) which is led by singer Christine Westphal and released an album in 2006.

Tracklisting for Unter dem Eis
01. Unter dem Eis
02. Unter dem Eis (Derek van Krogh Remix)
03. Zeit zu gehen
04. Louise

Unter dem Eis video