Band:	Weena Morloch
Album:	Amok
Style:	Industrial metal
Website:	http://www.weena-morloch.de
Release date:	2011
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Die Nacht Der Stumpfen Messer
02. Kaputt!
03. Wenn Ich Einmal Gross Bin
04. Alarm
05. Attentat
06. Ein Lied, Dich Zu Töten
07. Disko-Vampir
08. Versprochen
09. Einen Lenin Pro Tag
10. Herz Und Faust
11. Amok

Deutsche Welle Part 2.

Weena Morloch is a side-project of Alexander Kaschte, at least it started this way. I've always considered their debut and its successor indifferent works of industrial music with ambient references. Of course they had quite a few good moments, but apart from that they were nothing special in a Central European scene that was gaining ground day by day and the competition was harsh between the acts that were striving to settle their names with golden letters in the dark electro/industrial/EBM scene. Well, the years have passed and the scene has come to a saturation point with the big names being ghosts of themselves and the newer acts battling between TBM and a move-your-arse in the dancefloor you multicolored alienated electro cyber-goth generation attitude.

Well, Alexander learned his lessons from the failed attempts in the past, after all the Weena Morloch compositions you could find as bonus track in some Samsas Traum limited editions didn't have a positive effect. Henceforth the band changed from a side-project to something like Samsas Traum's alter ego and by saying that I mean that their sound is quite similar nowadays. So, as you might have noticed we have a double combo this year, after Anleitung Zum Totsein here comes Amok, with Alexander proving that 2011 has been a very creative year for him so far.

Judging from Amok's sound in general, it's a bit heavier than Samsas Traum and at the same more appealing to the listener, having its basis in gothic metal. This time the electronics are not even half the ones the band used to embed in its sound, they appear only whenever they are necessary so as to make a more flexible sound in terms of atmosphere. Don't misinterpret the aforementioned heaviness, it's not like that all the time, it has its melodic moments and in the end, gothic metal isn't that harsh anyway, heaviness is always enclosed within the genre parameters. The vocal interpretation is similar to Samsas Traum, I guess it could be inevitable to be heard through an utterly different spectrum. Yet, they still have their differences in terms of expression, for example this time the more aggressive vocal lines move in a shouting ecstatic manner instead of flirting with black metal screams, whereas the clean singing couldn't be that distinctive from the Samsas Traum basis.

The repetitive motive inside the compositions brings forth a Rammstein vibe at times, take "Alarm" and "Kaputt!" for example, but they are composed and interpreted to a different extent. Intensity and melody are the two main characteristics that change from song to song and complement the album with expressing variety. The imposing drumming paces well with the up-tempo moments and lends more power to the compositions whereas whenever the intensity fizzles out it simply accompanies the song structure. The ups and downs in terms of emotional charge you're about to witness in Amok keep the interest of the listener at high levels, leaving behind the option of getting tired while cherishing Weena Morloch for about 43 minutes (11 tracks).

If you're searching for a well-conceived, well-executed and easy to invest synth-flirting equivalent of Samsas Traum and in general some solid German-speaking gothic metal with a modern aura and has potential to please your ears without trying that hard then Amok is here for you. You'll have to jump over the 900 year old ugly simulation of Alexander Kaschte on the cover, though; I personally try to forget about it every time I listen to the album. If there's something to exclude, it's the cover, not Amok; enjoy - or not.