Black Heaven – “Dystopia” (2011)

Label : Trisol Music Group GmbH

Review by Luisa Mercier

Black Heaven is the side project of mastermind Martin Schindler, which tried to complete the gothic rock played with Mantus through this electronic project. After the release of their last record in 2009, Black Heaven completed their fifth album and in no way they have lost the dark mood of the founder main band. “Das Tor Zu Welt”, the opener, is an up-tempo song full of keyboards and completely sung by Martin while the following “Lächelnd geht die Welt zugrunde” is haunting and the vocals are delivered by Thalia. More slow-paced, it will find its place in the gothic clubs all over Europe.

“Die Zeit Die Bleibt” is more gothic, decadent and romantic with strings and its piano break that seems coming out of a movie soundtrack. Going back to danceable rhytm, “Mensch” is maybe the fastest song on the album and once again the keyboards have a main role. Thalia goes back to be the voice of the band in “Neues Blut”, a song in the vein of the previous one, maybe a bit more eletronic than the other; it is colder but not less effective. The whisper of the singer in the end of the song are very sensual and give the song a different twist. A true electrotrip. So it can be defined “Schwarze Asche”, the weirdest song in the record while “Himmel ohne Sterne”, is more dreamlike. Maybe the highlight of the album is “Ich Spielte Dort Am Grossen Teich”, with its mix of old and new. The keyboards have an ancient sound that mingles with electronics and female vocals. Really elegant song.

Mesmerizing is the exact word to describe “Ich Bin Es Nicht”, the song that maybe is closer to darkwave in the album, while the following “Ich Sehe” is a mid-tempo with nice keyboards parts, but for the rest is an average industrial song. The same can be told for “ Licht Bricht Dunkelheit” while the closing track “Was Auch Immer Du Tust” is a nice industrial ballad, with a symphonic touch. “Dystopia” is an album that has a lot to offer to lovers of industrial music and of course it is also open to a more mainstream audience.

Rating – 70/100

Tracklist

1. Das Tor Zur Welt
2. Lächelnd Geht Die Welt Zugrunde
3. Die Zeit Die Bleibt
4. Mensch
5. Neues Blut
6. Schwarze Asche
7. Himmel Ohne Sterne
8. Ich Spielte Dort Am Großen Teich
9. Ich Bin Es Nicht
10. Ich Sehe
11. Licht Bricht Dunkelheit
12. Was Auch Immer Du Tust

Line Up

• Thalia – Vocals
• Martin Schindler – Vocals, All instruments

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