The friendly priced Edelweiss is probably intended as an introduction to those who do not know the work of Allerseelen well. It gathers 16 ‘industrial folklore’ tracks recorded in the past five years. But also faithful Allerseelen fans might be tempted to obtain this cd, because many songs are present here in new and attractive versions.
Edelweiss comes in a nice digipack with floral motives and photos of Gerhard’s beloved mountains (Edelweiss is a wild mountain flower). The cd focuses on the folkloristic work of Allerseelen. Some compositions originating from the ritual industrial phase of the project are present, like ‘Sturmlied’ and ‘Gletscherlicht’, but also in folky variations.
The music collected here is typical of Allerseelen’s recent style: catchy melodies, classical loops, ongoing rhythms, the forceful speaking voice of Gerhard and a mediterranean feeling. One of the highlights is the atmospheric folksong ‘Nest’, orginally included on “Abenteuerliches Herz”.
Also very nice are the Catalan contributions by Rosa (Circe) on moody songs like ‘Marques de Pubol’ or ‘La despedida’. Of course there are some straightforward irrestible ‘hits’ on this album too, like ‘Ein ganzes Jahr’ and ‘Mit fester Hand’. This cd is a very nice introduction to Allerseelen and a convenient overview of some of his best recent songs.
