Werk 80 II

Eleven years after the first ''Werk 80'' release, eclectic German metal band Atrocity comes around with its follow-up featuring twelve covers of national and international pop and rock songs of the eighties. What seems like an unoriginal idea at first sight turns out to be a quite interesting affair. While the first album had a martial industrial rock tone, this sequel sounds completely different and mostly focuses on a more epic symphonic structure. With this classical vibe, Atrocity explores numerous sub-genres and sounds even more eclectic than usual by its own diversified standards. This album offers pretty much everything from symphonic power metal as in ''The Sun Always Shines on TV'' over symphonic gothic metal in ''Hey Little Girl'' to symphonic death metal in ''Relax''.

On the positive side, this release is much more diversified, entertaining and inspired than the somewhat lackluster first part. The song selection is also better since the first installment included some controversial tunes from German underground bands while this record only features some of the very best commercial pop and rock songs from the eighties. While Alexander Krull is still an average clean vocalist at best, his performance sounds more skilled than eleven years earlier where his aqualung vocals sounded similar in each tune while he sounds more melodic and has a slightly higher range on this output. Among the highlights, I would cite the brutal interpretation of ''Relax'', the hypnotizing version of ''Fade to Grey'', the aggressive and rhythmic ''Keine Heimat'' that needs some time to grow as well as the epic closer ''Forever Young''.

On the negative side, the symphonic elements on this album are overused and sound quite tiring after a while since they decrease the punch of the metal elements. It's quite the same thing for Liv Kristine's vocals that sound overtly dramatic at times and rarely harmonize with her then-husband's more grounded voice. The production is also a little bit too overloaded and polished for a metal release and is lacking dynamics, particularly in the rhythm department. Among the worst songs are the overloaded interpretation of ''The Sun Always Shines in TV'' where Liv Kristine sounds particularly annoying, the nerve-firing and nervous rendition of ''Hey Little Girl'' as well as the lackluster and almost sleepy interpretation of ''Here Comes the Rain Again''.

To keep it short, ''Werk 80 II'' is a clear improvement over its first installment thanks to a more diversified, entertaining and skilled reinvention of classic rock and pop songs of the eighties. Even though it's sometimes overused, the symphonic structure gives this record an elegant guideline from where the band explores numerous symphonic metal sub-genres. On the downside, vocalist Alexander Krull sounds better than eleven years earlier but is definitely too limited with his clean vocals to convincingly pull off a symphonic metal release and Liv Kristine's female guest vocals are sometimes nerve-firing. To keep it short, those who liked the first record should definitely check out the much better follow-up. I could also recommend this release to eclectic symphonic metal fans. Those who are missing the commercial pop and rock music of the eighties for nostalgic or closed-minded reasons might also give this a try. Fans of Atrocity's extreme metal soundscapes and those who already despised the first record should avoid this record as much as a vampire avoids holy water. A special shout-out goes to those who conceived the stylish cover artwork and booklet featuring burlesque model Dita Von Teese.

Atrocity are probably best known for their death metal releases as opposed to their dabbling in industrial experimentation. In 1997, they released the prequel to this release, predictably titled ‘Werk 80’, Atrocity’s own rendition of songs from the ‘80s. Although most of these songs are classic pop tunes, Atrocity inject a dosage of metal from varying subgenres, including gothic and power.

The covers are all quite enjoyable with only ‘Hey Little Girl’ lacking in intrigue, playing much like an ambitious power metal song. ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’, originally recorded by Simple Minds, is understandably the softest song on the album but is one of the most outstanding out of the whole lot, with the dependency on the keyboard actually proving quite fruitful for once.

‘’The Sun Always Shines On TV’ has an epic churning sound to it and when paired with the typically heavy simplistic power metal riffing, it was rather akin to Nightwish with its strong leading keys. ‘Relax’ is entirely different, utilizing growls and contained a gothic metal feel.

This album is a rhapsody of decent melodic metal, with power and heavy being the most poignant seeing as they are traditionally more ‘80s than the more modern subgenres. Worth picking up if you are a fan of ‘80s or symphonic metal. However, if you are exclusively a fan of this band’s death metal material, it will probably not be to your liking.

Originally written for www.soundshock.net

And I thought Six Feet Under were mad. Germany's Atrocity — for the second time I might add — have decided to release a record entirely dedicated to playing 80s pop songs with Death Metal sentimentalities and Gothic undertones. Yawn. We've all considered selling out at one point. Atrocity have even done it before and somehow came back from the edge of destruction to produce quality Death Metal in the wake of their original deviance. But why go back? I mean, if they hear the same thing I hear when they listen to their cover of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax", maybe an ear syringing is in order? The production is solid, the band themselves are technically brutal as ever, but Werk 80 II just lacks credibility. There is a restriction behind every note, and the more melodic shine to "Forever Young" sees vocalist Alexander Krull way out of his element. Unless you're a 1980s chart aficionado or happen to enjoy danceable Death Metal, than this is seriously one to pass on the old sale rack. Maybe Krull should just stick to banging Liv Kristine and let her do all the singing? Oh wait. He already has a band for that.

Originally written for www.metalcrypt.com