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Nachtmahr
Feuer Frei

Vendetta Music

Posted: Monday, August 04, 2008
By: Matthew Johnson
Assistant Editor

Austria's Thomas Rainer is best known for his work in legendary darkwave act L'ame Immortelle, but his latest project is a far cry from that band's melancholy aesthetic. Apart from the electronic beats, there's little in common between the two projects, the exceptions being "Nachtmahr" and "Hochmut," which are incidentally some of the album's best offerings. "Nachtmahr" launches the album with a blast of pounding martial snares and static-laced synthesizers, Rainer's voice a distorted bellow of rage, but somber, brooding pads - a signature of his work in L'ame Immortelle - give things a sense of mourning that belies the song's seeming bellicosity. Similar pads show up on "Hochmut," anchoring the song's industrialized clanks and guttural vocals with a sense of humanity. The rest of the album takes a much more visceral approach, aimed less at contemplation than a purely physical reaction of dance floor adrenaline. Alternating between modern terror EBM in the vein of Grendel and more techno-inspired instrumentals in the style popularized by Combichrist, the majority of Feuer Frei isn't subtle, but neither is it silly. The straightforward EBM songs like "Mein Name" and title track "Feuer Frei!" incorporate just enough melody to keep things interesting, and Rainer's harsh but mostly intelligible German-language vocals help tie the individual pieces together with a recognizable aesthetic that's less impersonal than many acts in the genre, in spite of its electronic coldness. Likewise, the instrumental tracks avoid the usual cheap ploys for club play. The samples are taken, by and large, from German cinema, a refreshing change of pace from the usual horror film clips, and Rainer never goes overboard with endless builds and crescendos; when the trance-inspired "Katharsis" finally does show up with rolling snares that fall away before exploding into a thunderous bass kick, it's all the more impressive for it. Rainer isn't aiming to create a new genre with Nachtmahr, but he doesn't have to; he already has a well-established career. Feuer Frei doesn't feel like a new artistic statement, but rather a labor of love aimed squarely at the dance floor. With L'ame Immortelle moving in more of an industrial metal direction on recent albums, Nachtmahr is Rainer's message to the club scene: he still knows how to make you dance.