Puppenspiel - CD 2008

Side-Line magazine
Electro Gothic
germaniac.com
gothtronic.com

REVIEWS

Side-Line Magazine
Unheilig is one of these bands with an unlimited productivity. Productivity isn't always synonymous with quality, but Unheilig is like a good old wine.
"Puppenspiel" is for sure a mature production on which you can find back all familiar ingredients like the deep, penetrating vocals of their charismatic frontman, the powerful guitar riffs a la Rammstein and the electro-pop arrangements. Add to this some songs with a clear, emotional mood and you get an idea about this "Puppenspiel". The song "Lampenfieber" is my absolute favourite song and even one of my personal faves ever. It perfectly combines the aforementioned elements together with a carrying chorus. This is pure sensation! Next to this great piece of music we also get some attention grabbers like the opening song "Vorhang Auf" and "Spiegelbild" (both with the typical Rammstein feeling in the guitar play), the more emotional and pop-like "Feuerengel" and "Kleine Puppe" for its carrying and popular sounding chorus. Unheilig delivers an album of diversity with different captivating songs. In the end we can say it's a fascinating and successful release!

Side-line.com

Electro Gothic
The end of February 2008 will finally see the long awaited Brand New album
from German Electro / Metal heroes Unheilig. New album "Puppenspiel" ("Doll
Play") is a thematic continuation of themes found on preceding albums
"Zelluloid" and "Moderne Zeiten" with a seamless merging of Electronics,
guitars and expressive vocals. Unheilig present more musicality and
diversity than ever before on an honest, open set of songs and ballads full
of throbbing bass lines, powerful beats and singularly unique vocals.

Electro Gothic

Germaniac
There are many bands that undoubtedly are great overall, but on every record amongst the masterpieces there’s a bunch of a lot inferior or even downright bad songs. A prime German example of such a band would be KMFDM. Every album has its fair share of instant classics, yet to counter them there’s always a couple of really insignificant and inane tracks that don’t do anything to justify their existence. But what does this have to do with Unheilig?

Yeah, nothing at all, because Unheilig isn’t like that. On Unheilig’s latest offering Puppenspiel (released February 22nd) Der Graf shows yet again his nearly unreal talent in songwriting and manages to churn out a full 14 tracks (16 if you’ve got the limited edition, like yours truly), every single one of which are enjoyable. Yes, the previous albums Moderne Zeiten and Zelluloid were both very solid and the same could’ve been said about them, but Puppenspiel is bordering perfection. To be quite honest, I was kind of skeptical when the first three samples of the album (Der Vorhang fällt, An deiner Seite and Kleine Puppe) were revealed. They were good, but they didn’t predict that many changes to the sound and formula that proved to be a winning combination on the last two CDs. However, when the urgent intro Vorhang auf exploded perfectly into Puppenspieler, it grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go until I’d listened the CD straight through.

Most of the album is darker and notably more furious than the almost overly sluggish and romantic Moderne Zeiten, especially Lampenfieber is a surprisingly brutal cut for Unheilig, while the ballads Feuerengel, An deiner Seite and Der Vorhäng fällt are no slouches either, as they are genuinely touching and powerful. Guitars seem to have more of a driving role here than electronics making for a heavier sound than before, although synths, pianos and strings are still a large part of the band’s sound. Der Graf also uses his voice in ways we haven’t heard before. Too bad the limited edition is already completely sold out, as the two bonus songs are also terrific additions to the core experience. Probably the only song that doesn’t stand out as much as everything else is Wie viele Jahre, which seems more like filler with its weird, out-of-place Gregorian sample and is grudgingly slow.

In other words, Puppenspiel is tougher, catchier, more epic and simply put better than anything Der Graf has created before. It’s chock-full of songs that’ve been composed and produced so excellently that it’s almost ridiculous, a brilliant, expert combination of both familiar and new Unheilig elements. For fans it’s automatically a must-have, and if you’re not a fan of Unheilig yet, Puppenspiel proves that you bloody well should be, it’s that damn good. Get it and see for yourself.

Check out samples for each track on Nilaihah’s website, where you can also order it if you’re in the US. When you’ve got the album, don’t forget to vote for your favourite title on the German side of Unheilig’s website.

Review by Gregory E. Pilling for  www.germaniac.com

Gothtronic
Puppenspiel thematically and stilistically connects to the previous albums Zelluloid and most notably Moderne Zeiten. Puppenspiel is born from personal experiences of Der Graf but as a metaphor can also be applied to man and his position in the world. Unheilig doesn’t introduce any new surprises on this album, yet brings us where they’re good at: decent electro-rock crossover tunes somewhere in between Rammstein, Oomph! And German indiepop. The heavy guitar centered songs have gained depth with an instrumentation that contains violins, as can be heard in songs like ‘Spiegelbild’ and ‘Fang Mich Auf’. The songs are mostly characterized by a balance between power and melancholy and the production is just great. It is also danceable with the heavy electro sequences, beats and grooves. Listen for example to ‘Dein Clown’ or ‘Lampenfieber’. It however are more than ever before the quiet songs, such as the beautiful ‘Sei Mein Licht’, which deliver and with that the bans shows they are still developing and able to address an ever growing fanbase. Puppenspiel again makes a good Unheilig album that will be a delight to the fans.

Review by TekNoir for www.gothtronic.com

back to Unheilig Puppenspiel
________________________________________________________