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Rammstein's guitarist Richard Kruspe has ventured
outside of the Berlin, Germany based sextet for his current project
Emigrate which involves a multi-cultured cast with Frenchmen
Axel Bauer on [guest] vocals and Arnaud Giraux on
bass, Sweden's Henka Johansson on drums, and fellow Germans
Olsen Involtini on guitar and Sascha Moser in the
role of Logic programmer. The group's self-titled album is the stuff
that makes bands world renowned. Produced by Kruspe, co-produced
by Jacob Hellner and mixed by Stefan Glaumann, the
symphonic rock howling and industrial metal chars whip up a volcanic
arrangement with the sonic boom of Killswitch Engage, the
low bellows of Seether, and the vigorous fumes of Tokio
Hotel. The album straddles the line between commercial pop metal
and hungry hardcore breeds with its first single "My World"
already featured on the soundtrack for the hit movie Resident
Evil: Extinction. For a one time project initiated by Kruspe,
it is an album that bucks more than one top notch hard rock single.
The album leads off with "Emigrate" which sets Kruspe's
haunting vocal presence in the environs of [his] roaring guitar
riffs. The energy level maintains its whirlpool spinning with a
barrage of hard rock discharges on "Wake Up" and the funk-inspired
industrial metal downpours of "My World" which freighters
episodes of children's choruses. The acoustic guitar and high-hat
taps in the intro of "Let me Break" are layered with raging
hard rock flusters as the following numbers "In My Tears"
and "Babe" tame the flustered tension with segments of
lo-fi melodic calms. The light rumbling beats of "New York
City" are haloed by synth-rock creations which turn into high
powered guitar aerials on "Resolution" tweaked by Middle
Eastern accents. The guitar burns on "Temptation" and
"This Is What" are undertone with melodic acoustics which
become balladry on the final track "You Can't Get Enough"
with shadowy orchestral features curled into the metal rock mixture.
Emigrate's lyrics have a stream of consciousness flow like in the
song "Resolution" when Kruspe tells, "Lost all self-control/
Don't know where to go/ Take a piece of soul/ In my mind I take
a hold/ confusion…resolution/ I can feel/ I can see/ The resolution/
I do." The lyrics are fragmented thoughts loosely bound to
each other but the music tightens their connection and erupts with
tension and gusto. Emigrate shows many overlapping elements to Kruspe's
band Rammstein, and yet the two groups can be separated by their
sound.
Kruspe's project Emigrate stakes a place for itself on hardcore's map
with the capability to make a lasting impression on music fans with
this one album. It is like the members of Emigrate took the best of
what they had from their backgrounds and brought it with them into Emigrate.
There are samples of purity and fusion in Emigrate's hardcore vignettes
which allow them to spawn something new and keep the cycle of modern
metal moving forward.
-Susan Frances
[Editors Note: Thanks to everyone who wrote in to let us know
that R. Kruspe was actually the vocalist in the band as well as
the guitarist. The original information in the review was provided
by a publicist and repeated by Ms. Frances. We've made what we hope
to be fair editorial changes not only for the band, but also to
preserve the original review.]
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