UMUR
"Werk 80 II" is the eighth full-length studio album by German metal act Atrocity. The album was released through Napalm Records in February 2008. It´s the successor to "Atlantis" from 2004. As the title suggests "Werk 80 II" is the second album in a series of metalized 1980 pop/rock cover albums by Atrocity, which began with the release of the first "Werk 80" album in 1997. Marilyn Manson´s then girlfriend burlesque artist Dita Von Teese poses on the cover of the album.
For the most part Atrocity have opted to cover some pretty big 80s hits like "People Are People" by Depeche Mode, "The Sun Always Shines on TV" by A-ha, and "Forever Young" by Alphaville, so if you´re familiar with that era of music and the originals, it´s not difficult to hum along and enjoy Atrocity´s more gothic metalized versions of the songs. Lead vocalist Alexander Krull predominantly does a decent job, and the female semi-operatic vocals performed by his then-wife Liv Kristine are also a nice booster on some tracks. Krull does sound a little awkward at times though, and during the more difficult to sing parts of the songs, his relatively limited range is audible.
"Werk 80 II" features a decent sounding production job, and the performances are also generally on a high level, so upon conclusion it´s a decent quality covers album by Atrocity. I´m not sure I think it´s a particularly necessary release, but it sounds like the band had a lot of fun making it and I found it a reasonably enjoyable listen, so a 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.
