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Winterkalte's newest full-length receives a spot in my Top 10 of the year. Following a previous album (Structures of Destruction) and a 10" (Progressive), both on Germany's Hands label, the duo that make up Winterkalte (I don't know their names) show that they know how to make a record that kicks your ass.

At only 6 songs, this album appeals more to my style of listening. I prefer long, drawn-out, massive, epic tracks rather than short ditties. This album offers this, and then some. The first song, Rebound Effect vs. Sustainability, is split up into 2 parts (maybe 1 is a remix?). This song is the weakest track on the album - sounding more like it came from Structures of Destruction (which did basically nothing for me, I might add) - but a track that seems to get better with more listens. The next track, Structure 04, is slightly better than Rebound - typical Winterkalte. Still, the album has yet to reach its climax.

Said climax starts right up with Tropical Timber Trade, an awesome, pounding track with weird-sounding beats. The best track on the disk, The Fate of the Sea, is next. And my GOD, what a track this is! In my opinion, this song is industrial music embodied - long, harsh, evil, ominous music that puts you in a damn aggressive mood. Starting off with some ambient soundscape work, which is quickly taken care of by my favorite percussion loop of the year. Harsh clangs and slow, pounding beats set the stage for a 12 minute musical assault!

Do Note Vote For Industry is up next (is it just me, or am I noticing a STRONG anti-consumer pro-environment theme here?), and at 20 minutes, is the longest track on the disk. For 5 minutes, sparse ambient mixed with strange, heavily distorted vocal samples make up the track. At that point, the spirally, swirly synth that sounds just so damn cool within this track accompanies a slow, plodding beat. At about 7:40, it blasts into a speedy, bouncy assault which makes up most of the rest of the track. A very, very awesome track.

The final track is Global Deforestation (Amazon Rainforest Version). This (or some version of it) was included on the Progressive 10", and sounds somewhat similar. Consisting mainly of high-speed percussion loops, typical Winterkalte that is unfortunately one of the weaker on the album. Another one of those tracks that gets better the more you listen to it.

Overall, Winterkalte's latest is an essential album for any industrial fan. Immeasurably harsh and somehow sounding really unlike anything else I have heard (it's too "nice" to be straight up power-electronics and too "un-IDM" to be compared to PAL or Imminent Starvation). Compared to Structures of Destruction, Drum 'n Noise reveals a much more complex song-structure and a smoother, better sound overall. Highly recommended.

RVWR: Chris
December 1999

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Hands

PO Box 1701, 90707 Furth, Germany.