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Review by OBLIVEON.
Limitiert auf handverlesene 45 Stück ist “History In Flames” eine weitere Veröffentlichung aus dem Hause Bleiburg, hier allerdings entstanden in gemeinsamer Zusammenarbeit mit Manmachine. Dies alleine macht deutlich, dass die musikalische Ausrichtung dieser Doppel-CD inklusive T-Shirt vorwiegend elektronischer Natur ist, wobei das Tempo aller dreiundzwanzig Stücke vornehmlich im Midtempo gehalten ist und die rhythmische Komponente sehr akzentuiert und zum Teil recht industriallastig daher kommt. Der Gesang beschränkt sich zumeist auf einen rezitativen Vortrag, ergänzt durch diverse, nicht näher bestimmbare Samples. Die Stücke weisen einen zum Teil sehr futuristischen Charakter auf und gleichen desöfteren mehr elektronischen Klangcollagen denn wirklichen Songs, was die ganze musikalische Bandbreite Stefan Rukavinas einmal mehr unterstreicht.. Aus dem musikalischen und konzeptionellen Rahmen fällt alleine die Death in June-Coverversion von “Fall Apart”, die sich nahe an das Original anlehnt, hierbei jedoch deutlich zu den besseren Adaptionen und Versionen dieses Stückes aus der Feder von Douglas P. zählt. Beide CDs am Stück hintereinander weg zu hören ist aufgrund des ungewöhnlichen Charakters der Musik sicher kein leichtes Unterfangen, doch ein lohnenswertes allemal, nimmt man sich die Zeit in das ungewöhnliche musikalische Konzept dieses Albums einzutauchen. Zu beziehen ist “Histroy In Flames” über http://www.skullline.de
Review by HEATHEN HARVEST.
Bleiburg had received a decent amount of praise on the Heathen Hideout forums so I was very happy to get the opportunity to review a Bleiburg release. History In Flames being a 2CD set gave me a good insight into the variety of sounds Bleiburg produces and the quality of Bleiburg's collaborative work, in this case with Manmachine.
Since first recording music under the name Bleiburg at the end of the 90's Stefan Rukavina has built up a huge back catalogue of material. Many of these releases are produced in very limited editions. History In Flames is no exception. A limited edition of 45, this 2CD boxed set comes with a great looking t-shirt, and a pin badge. These elements combine to make this a very collectable piece.
The question is, laying aside the collectability, does the music stand up to the praise bestowed upon Bleiburg? Well, I can safely answer that yes it does. The first cd opens with the driving percussive rhythm of 99 Percent Noise. The spoken poetry of the vocals is a free form, linguistic experiment in altering the mental state of the listener. Right from the start I knew this would be my favourite track of the whole release and it is, though closely tied with the track following it. A New System is a dark, pulsing electro piece with more spoken word. This time the vocals speak of a new way of being, almost like the utopianism of Terence Mckenna and others in the modern psychedelic crowd before giving way to another voice in a language that I can't understand.
The track that really stands out on the first disc is actually a cover. Fall Apart, a cover of the Death In June song from Wall of Sacrifice, is a really stripped down rendition featuring only guitar and vocals. This cover goes to show the extent to which Bleiburg refuses to be pigeon-holed into any particular genre. For some bands this kind of ecclectic approach can end up sounding unfocussed but it really works in this instance.
The rest of disc 1 is made up of frantic rhythmic noise (Hekate Song), more almost psychedelic manifesto electronica (Language of My Reality), and minimalist pounding rhythm pieces (Slanted Voices).
Right from the first track, About The Nights, disc 2 has a very different feel. Opening with a fast paced, multi-layered, electro-industrial song unlike anything on the first disc. From the haunting ambience of Behold the Grave to the fa talking, punding intensity of Lords of Sleep, to the acoustic folk of The Most Beautyful (Hungarian version), disc two shows a whole different range of musical talent from disc 1.
All in all this is an excellent release. Incredibly high quality music and great looking merchandise makes this essential for anyone into the post-industrial underground. With the range of stuyles emplotyed by Bleiburg there's something here for everyone.
Review by JUDAS KISS.
Bleiburg is the brainchild of the productive Stefan Rukavina of the German label and Death In June fanclub Thaglasz.
This is a double CD from the fledgling German label SkullLine, which comes in an extremely limited edition boxset with badge and t-shirt limited to 45 copies.Musically this is VERRRY rhythmic hybrid of e.b.m with the exception of the cover version of the classic Death In June song ‘Fall Apart’ and the track ‘The Most Beautiful (Hungarian version)’. which to be honest was quite disappointing as it hardly covered new ground.
The rest of the CD is as a mentioned, extremely rhythmic and danceable with no real vocals apart from a spoken diatribe about the world around us. There some other highlights such as the notable ‘The Phoenix Is Rising’ and the wonderful ‘Lords of Sleep’.
I do like what Stefan does as no Bleiburg CD sounds the same, which makes sure the project doesn’t stale and constantly diverse even if not every release will appeal to every listener.
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