Berlin-based band Blutengel is a one-of-a-kind phenomenon. In less than a decade’s time, the group headed by singer and mastermind Chris Pohl has become synonymous with a unique and often imitated stylistic symbiosis of Gothic, Pop and electronic club music and has shaped an entire genre. Over the years, Blutengel have never stagnated, instead enhancing and developing their trademark style with every new album. But even according to their own high standards, their new long player “Schwarzes Eis” is nothing short of a revelation. Easily Blutengel’s most versatile and ambitious work to date, the group manages to fuse the best of all its different creative periods and to cross borders without sacrificing its own identity. There have always been two sides to the Blutengel-equation – the club-compatible, rhythmic, “harder” and the elegic, pompous and romantic side. Both poles have been driven to perfection on “Schwarzes Eis”: the rhythmic tracks sound more minimal, danceable and dark and have returned a bit of the cold, often slightly distorted feeling of the early days. The emotional side has been interpreted in such dense and exciting sound fields that it has become an absolutely intense experience. Songs like the charts-hitting single “Dancing In The Light” are a picture-perfect example – the catchy, dark sound of Blutengel has matured, but at the same time feels as fresh and compact as it hasn’t felt since “Seelenschmerz.” “Schwarzes Eis” will be released as a double CD, with disc two containing the ambitious instrumental work “Behind The Mirror”, a concept album with eight tracks. Especially for fans, there will also be a very special limited edition: a lavish box set containing “Schwarzes Eis”, “Behind The Mirror” and a full third album called “Redemption”, all CDs coming in separate Digipaks. “Redemption” contains all other songs from the extremely creative recording sessions for “Schwarzes Eis” that would not fit into the overall concept of the finished album – none of the usual filler tracks or remixes that tend to be used for spiffing up limited editions. This extraordinary package is rounded off by a luxurious 44-page booklet. With “Schwarzes Eis”, Blutengel have surpassed themselves!
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