Düsseldorf — Amok

Düsseldorf is one of the key and influential names in the Polish EBM scene. Amok is their third album, and it finds them blending other genre touches and elements in their sound such as Berlin school like electronica, live drums, new wave, and post-rock elements.

The release is presented as a six-track CD on Zoharum records  in a grey, red, and black colour schemed digipak. Each of the (largely) instrumental tracks has runtimes between five and nearing nine minutes- with throughout a good/ even blend of percussion, synths, and atmosphere tightly in place.

The album moves from the locked-tolling bell tones, snapping beats, and meaty to malevolent bounding keyboard runs of “A Curse” which features some nice live percussive breakdowns, and looped vocal chants.  We have “Ectoplasm” with its choppy Berlin school-inspired central keyboard element, rising ambient underbelly, and husky chatting old man vocal sample.  The album is finished off with two live tracks- we have the dramatically tolling ‘n’ pulsing keyboard layers of “Ostwall” which introduces subtle ‘n’ moody guitar tones as it moves on. And there’s “Power Of The People” with its tight choppy EBM synth work, snapping ‘n’ slight ringing beats, and wayward old-school vocal samples.
 
Amok is an EBM album that effectively blends in other genre traits in both a rewarding and moody manner. Making the album appealing to not just fans of just EBM, but the wider electronica genre. I must say I’ve now played this more than a few times, and it still has me coming back for more.