"Mea Culpa"
SPV Records
By Jonathan Mariante Umbra et Imago are a goth band that I'd never heard of before (I'm not really familiar with goth music to begin with). They sound a bit like Rammstein right down to the fact that the whole album is sung in German. The music is basic goth; razor sharp guitars backed by haunting melodies and a driving beat. Singer Mozart growls like a jungle cat from hell. It is dark, foreboding and sinister, as all goth usually is (I have certainly never known goth to be "sunshine and rainbows" type music). The first song is "Lieber Gott," which, I have heard, is German for "Oh, My God." It is your typical goth rock tune, hard driving and dark as are the next two, "Schmerz" and "Mea Culpa." The following tune is simply titled "Goth Music" and is, as one can guess, an ode to their style of music. Female backup singer Karoline (who plays in another band and guests on this album) sings about the only English lyrics on the album during this song. The next three songs, "Prinz Vogelfrei," "Teutonenlied" and "Jahr Und Tag" dish out more heavy goth tunes then things slow down for a bit for the next two songs, "Aufrecht" and "Weinst Du," both of which are Sabbath influenced funeral dirge songs, the former of which employs the use of what sounds like a children's choir. Then comes my favorite part of the album. A cover of, get this, "Rock Me Amadeus!" Goes to show you, even the darkest of goth bands can have a sense of humor. Gotta love it! By the way, I never knew Falco was killed in a car wreck. The final song, which is listed as a bonus track, is "Vater." This song is a ballad, played on classical style piano, with a violin used too, on which Mozart actually sings rather than growl or hiss, revealing that he does have quite a god voice, very operatic at that. The children's choir also makes another appearance in this song. And that about rounds it out. Goth has never really been my thing, but, these guys do have talent and they are very interesting, especially in their choice of songs to cover! Goth fans should like this. Fans of other music might enjoy this album, particularly the "Rock Me Amadeus" cover, a ray of sunshine on an otherwise dark album (but given a dark twist!)
|
More from the Online Metal Journal |
|
|
|
|