ATROCITY — Gemini (review)

ATROCITY — Gemini album cover Album · 2000 · Gothic Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"Gemini" is the sixth full-length studio album by German metal act Atrocity. The album was released through Motor Music in October 2000. It´s the successor the the covers album "Werk 80" from 1997 and there´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Michael Schwarz has been replaced by Martin Schmidt.

Atrocity is an odd act changing their style between each release and therefore it´s never a given what a new release will sound like. "Gemini" again sees the band venturing into new territory and they have definitely taken inspiration from their fellow countrymen in Rammstein here with repeated heavy chugging riffs and pumping driving beats (and occasionally techno influenced keyboard work), but contemporary gothic rock/metal acts like Paradise Lost and Tiamat are audibly also a big influence. So this is basically an industrial tinged gothic metal album featuring both German and English lyrics. Frontman Alexander Krull hasn´t always had the greatest control of his voice and on earlier releases some of the vocal styles he has experimented with have not worked very well. On "Gemini" it´s as if he has received vocal training or something in that vein, because the vocals are relatively powerful and well performed. His duets with his then wife Liv Kristine work well too.

"Gemini" is an album I can enjoy in parts and listening to a couple of songs now and again is entertaining enough, but the whole thing does become a little gimmicky and formulaic along the way. There´s little here which identify "Gemini" as an Atrocity album, and if I didn´t know, my first guess would be that Rammstein had picked up a couple of gothic metal influences and made an album slightly out of their comfort zone. Most of the tracks on the album are hard edged industrial beat pumped compositions but Atrocity have included a couple of cover tracks too in Simon & Garfunkel´s "Sound of Silence" and Lale Andersen/Norbert Schultze/Hans Liep´s World War II schlager "Lili Marleen". As a product "Gemini" features high quality production values and high level musicianship, but the songwriting isn´t particularly original or inspired and at this point Atrocity just seemed to be following trends. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.
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