Customer Reviews

Casting Shadows

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I heard first the voice of singer Peter Heppner in a duet with another german vocalist Witt in the radio I coudn't forget this voice (this was beside the single "Dream of you" with dance-masters Schiller one of his single projects without bandpartner Markus Reinhardt). This soft deep voice made my heart open and there are many with me having this opinion. On this new album now Wolfsheim completed themselves. There music varies from soft chilling melancholic beauftifully arranged songs like Everyone Who Casts A Shadow, Care For You, Kein Zurück and And I... to midtempi songs with a very interesting individual sound like I Won't Believe and Underneath The Vail to danceable tracks like Wundervoll, Find You're Gone and Approaching Lightspeed. It's a CD that warms up your heart and rotates at my home instandly. I also can recommand every other CD from Wolfsheim esp. Spectators and Dreaming Apes. Give yourself time to listen to this music, let the feelings flow into you. It helps to clean up your mind to find your truth. It's just the best therapy against sadness. Even if you're not know german language it doesn't matter. But here I will give you a short translation for "Kein Zurück": There is no way back, take your steps forward, live your dreams even if you sometimes want to turn back the time, there is no way back, what you did you did, there is always a new way. To the song Wundervoll: "Imagine yourself in a club, you're dancing but you're not sure if you really enjoy it, dancing by yourself with no connection to others, lonely. It's a ironic song that you might think that something is wonderful but in fact it isn't. That's a very brief translation and everybody can make there own impression of their songs anyway. With regards from Germany

Do you ever get the feeling that most artists have lost all ability to do anything original or interesting? That they try to grab attention by employing gimmicks or creating some image backed up by no substance? Worse, do you also feel that most people don't even care anymore? Well check Wolfsheim out - they are the antithesis of all these disgusting things. With simple melodies and disarmingly wondrous lyrics they manage to create amazing music unlike any you've heard.

Having been a synth fan since the age of Kraftwerk and the electronic new wave of the early/mid 80's, to the various sub-genres of today, I've heard hundreds of groups traversing this niche. Few have ever honed the craft this well. There are a number of strong electronic artists today: the electroclash of Ladytron and Fischerspooner - the indie electropop of Postal Service - the new nu wave of Ganymede, Iris or Freezepop - to the electro industrial of VNV Nation, Apoptygma Berzerk, Assemblage 23 or newcomers like Seabound. All excellent.

Still, of all of the great modern synth bands, there are only 2 (IMO) that are truly transcendent with life-affirming power and splendor: VNV Nation and Wolfsheim. VNV fills your mind with grand visions, bigger than life concepts and the idea that you too can be majestic. Wolfsheim is equally powerful, but approaches it from an entirely different direction. Wolfsheim will make you feel that the real beauty and pleasure of life may rest in the smallest of things, that possibly the wonder lies in the subtlety and nuance.

Let's talk about the specific high points here. "Kein Zuruck" (No Return), the first of the German-sung tracks, features Peter Heppner's voice and lyrics woven together at their most hypnotic. As others have said, it really won't matter whether you 'sprechen sie Deutsch' or not - you'll be hooked. Peter really is incomparable; I've never encountered a singer remotely similar in vocal timbre or delivery. "And I...", like most of their stuff, leans toward the softer side with its gentle rolling bassline, warm vocals, and toned down brush beat - a marvel. "Underneath the Veil" picks up the intensity with a heavier beat and a sense of urgency. "Find You're Gone" is a mid-tempo dance song with a rock beat and synths that snake through the mix rather than taking it over. "Wundervoll" is absolutely lovely. The melody is simple as are the lyrics, yet the impact is stunning. Over the past 2 months this has become my favorite I think. "Approaching Lightspeed" is an obvious choice as a single. This embodies the Wolfsheim approach to the music as well as any. The rhythms are infectious yet understated while the percussion is fresh and danceable but never distracts from the vocals. Perfect.

There is only one thing that I find slightly awkward about this album. "Everyone Who casts a Shadow" is the leadoff song and the de facto title track, yet this is the only song on the whole CD that doesn't really strike me. Anyway that's just me being picky.

To put it very simply, this is a band at the top of their game and in prime form. If you thought that they couldn't top "Spectators", well I think they did. And if you've lost faith in the music of today... try Wolfsheim.

The moment I discovered Wolfsheim would be releasing a new CD, the moment I knew the date, I pre-ordered my copy and began selling old CDs to the store to get the money for it. The day of its arrival, I drove early to the store with my car jury-rigged to play CDs through the tape player and I parked with bated breath, trying to anticipate just what this CD would sound like.

My trouble was well worth it.

The first track blew me away. I circled town three times to be sure I heard the entire CD before I reached home.

Peter Heppner's voice touches deeply into the soul with every note he sings, and has ever sung - this album is no different. In fact, it emphasises the emotion even more; the tracks are slower, more melodic, and more expressive than the more dance-oriented albums Wolfsheim has released in the past. I could relate each song to a moment in my life and, best of all, even with the passage of time, none of the tracks lose their poignancy. Wolfsheim's Casting Shadows, though a deviation from their accepted norm, is well worth the investment.

I recently went to Germany and I saw this CD in every store. I decided to give it a listen, a lot of stores over there have listening stations, and I was amazed. I don't normally listen to this style, (usually Tool, System of a Down, etc.) but I had to buy it. I think other reviewers make comments to the voice, but until you actually hear it, you can't fully understand. There seems to be so much emotion in his voice. He seems to bring out the feelings of each word as he sings. If you are into synth, buy this! Or if you are just looking to expand your music, this is a must have. My favorite tracks: "Everyone Who Casts a Shadow", "Kein Zuruck", and "Underneath the Veil". But the rest are great too.

Yet again, Wolfsheim is another band that I was introduced to by my friend who has burned me a few cds filled with various goth, industrial, and EBM bands. "The Sparrows and the Nightingales" was the first Wolfsheim song I had ever heard. I loved the unique vocals and was immediately hooked. "Spectators" was my first full-length Wolfsheim. I loved what I heard. I have been wanting the new Wolfsheim cd "Casting Shadows" for some time now. When I went to buy BT's new cd, I thought I would also pick up the new Wolfsheim cd while I was at it. And just like "Spectators", I was immediately captivated by the magic that was recorded on to a plastic cd. Although I wish Wolfsheim's music would be a bit more faster and aggressive at times like labelmates Funker Vogt and Hanzel Und Gretyl, I was nevertheless deeply moved by songs such as "Find You're Gone" and "Wundervoll". On the other hand if Wolfsheim would speed up their music, they would lose that sense of melancholy that I so love. The beauty of Wolfsheim's music, especially on "Casting Shadows", is that it is very emotional to listen to. There is a sense of melancholy that permeates through out the album. The vocals and the lyrics are a perfect match. They create a sadness I rarely hear in a lot of music today. After listening to "Casting Shadows", I hope that I don't have to wait as long for another album from Wolfsheim as I have for "Casting Shadows".

The title really says it all. It's a mellow disk, but absolutely stunning. Peter's voice is haunting and beautiful, and Markus's talent really shines through in the music. The songwriting is amazing in every vocal track, and even the instrumental "In time" is emotional. Kein Zurück really stands out as a heartfelt track, even if you don't speak German. If you're going to buy one CD, this should be it. Flawless masterpiece.

I can hardly describe how much I adore this CD. i fell in love with it almost from the first note. the first song, then the second, third, and so on. I do not always pay attention to lyrics personally, but this CD speaks to me in ways that most others dont. For me, music must do one out of two things to be of value... it must either make me feel something on an emotional level, or it must make me want to dance. This CD does both. While much of it is slow in tempo, I still want to dance to it, either alone or with someone wonderful who can feel its emotion with me. I am grateful to Wolfsheim for touching my life in this way, and adding such beauty to it. I cannot wait for them to play in nyc so i can go and feel my heart swell to bursting. Buy this CD, but beware, it is addicting.
Love as ye will...

This is my fav from them. I love the peter murphy like vocals. The music is top notch. If youre going to buy wolfsheim start with this one.

Wolfsheim is very much in line with groups like VNV Nation, Covenant and Icon of Coil. If you like any of those, I see you liking this. The pace of the music leans towards the softer side, as opposed to simply being a fast BPM dance-floor group. But whatever it lacks on the dance floor it makes up for in just being a pleasure to listen to.

The vocals are clear and the lyrics are good and the music is clear-toned "electronic music" (as opposed to the "random noise" that a lot of other synth-based groups favor).

Every now and then you'll get a song sung in German from this group, but I love those as much as the ones in English. On this CD you'll get "Wondervoll" in German but it's one of my favorite tracks. (If you're really curious about what he's saying you can find the lyrics online, right click on the page with IE and click "translate" to get the gist of it.) But the music and the clear style of vocals just make it enjoyable to listen to even if I'm not quite sure what he's saying :)

Anyway, quality synth group, wish I could find more like this.

While not 100% great to the core, this is a decent album to sit back and chill-out to. The combination of rich synthetic textures and dry vocals makes for a unique ambience. Peter's singing style can be an aquired taste for some, so listening to all eleven tracks in succession might be a challenge. Much like licking a Tootsie-pop to the chewey goodness at the center, you may end up crunching through the mass of the album and playing the songs you really like the most.

For me, listening to my favorite songs on this album is a nice break from the more aggressive electronica that I normally listen to. If fact, any song from this album would work very well in making a personal compilation of almost any style of electronic music.

The music itself is well designed and offers a lot of detail. Bass lines are fat, there's usually a nice groove to hook you in and good balance of texture and atmosphere.

My only complaint about Casting Shadows is that while any one song you listen to is great, I wish there were maybe one or two more instrumental tracks to break the vocal monotony....either that, or perhaps a different vocalist on a couple of tracks, such as a colaborator, would have been nice. The last song, "In Time" is instrumental, and is a very nice song...but it's - the last song.

But despite my minor complaint, I highly recommend adding this to your library whatever style of electronica you listen to.