The last few years I haven’t listened to large doses of electro music. But at times I can appreciate some good EBM stuff, especially when it’s dark and/or atmospheric. The young German label Sonic-X (“music for the dark electronic underground”) sent me three of their first releases for review, and they certainly refrain from sounding too poppy or one-dimensional. “Salvation & despair” is the first album for the German act Dead Turns Alive. It compiles the material they have created in the past four years. The music of Pink Turns Blue sounds professional and is quite varied, ranging from ‘oldschool’ dark electro to modern future pop, but you can also hear some ‘American’ electro/industrial influences, through the at times aggressive style of singing and the occasional use of guitars. Most songs are midtempo with a somewhat complex structure, but there are a few tracks with faster beats suitable for the dancefloor, like ‘Hard to Swallow’ and ‘Psalm 115’. ‘Secret Borderline’ seems to be a clubhit, but personally I find it one of the less interesting tracks.
An original touch to this album are the lyrics: Michael Enning, singer and songwriter of the band, incorpates his Christian faith in the texts. This gives another dimension to songtitles as ‘Satan on earth or ‘Demons intention’… What I like most of the album is its diversity: every song sounds a bit different, or has original features: sometimes the vocals are heavily distorted, in other songs they sound quite clear. Some tracks are straightforward, others are less accessible. Sometimes you are surprised by the use of guitars, samples or female vocals. This varied menu results in a few good tracks, but naturally the diversity also causes that I don’t appreciate all songs.
