Yhtä kaikuvaa ääntä, kaukaista kolinaa ja aivan pieniä rätinöitä. Yhdellä raidalla hallitsee vesi, toisella melupurskahdukset, kolmannella dronet. Ja niin edelleen. Siinä kaikki Strichen tämän albumin oleelliset palaset, lukuun ottamatta vaisuna äänimattona kulkevaa Die Vergangenheit-raitaa ja päätöskappaletta Der schwarze Traum von der Erschiessung des Gedachtnisses. Tyylilaji on jossakin minimalistisen elektroakustiikan, old school -ambientin ja noiseambientin välimailla, ilman minkäänlaista maisemallisuutta tai varsinaista tunnelman luomista.

Jiituomas

One echoing sound, a distant clanging and very small buzzes. On one track the dominant sound is water, on another it's bursts of noise, on yet another it's drones. And so on. That about sums up the essential elements of this album by Die Striche, excluding Die Vergangenheit, which contains a not very impressive layer of constant sound, and the last track, Der schwarze Traum von der Erschiessung des Gedachtnisses. The musical style of the album is somewhere between electro-acoustic, old school ambient and noise-ambient, without any soundscape-like qualities or even the creation of moods. Technically speaking the music is well made and has lots of nicely functioning ideas. Nevertheless, it leaves a hollow feeling: every track, as well as the album, is far too often just a series of cleverly used pieces of sound, not something that feels like a whole. The only exception as far as quality is concerned is the 14-minute track Entstellt, but material similar - and far superior - to it has already been produced by artists like Ahasverus. Yet I must still admit that there are many very good pieces scattered throughout the album: good sounds, good structures, nice moods. All that is needed is a way to make them function together, and then something very good may emerge out of this basis.

Jiituomas