Einheit, Esch & Mur - TERRE HAUTE

I suppose it's a bit of a surprise to find out that three great artists have come together to form something beautiful. Einheit, Esch & Mur combine the talents of FM EInheit from , En Esch most noted for his performance in KMFDM, and Mona Mur, a German vocalist who has worked with Einsturzende Neubaten in the past, as well as working with music in video games and collaborating with multiple other artists. All three are well worn veterans in this field, and have come together to release the album TERRE HAUTE.

They describe themselves as being a German angst ridden art core experience, however, that just simply won't do for the common mind. The main sounds that I see coming out of this album are ambient sounds to minimal electronics, with some classy guitar being thrown into the mix here and there.

SLEEP BABY SLEEP kicks off the album and, as the title states, really sorts out for a lullaby of sorts. While the sounds in the background move the song along, the nice, clean vocals really cuts through everything else present. They are calming, as one would expect a voice to be reading off a lullaby to be, yet powerful. It was a pleasure to listen to this. As it transitions to the next song, plenty of noise shines through.

As quickly as the noise comes in, it soon enough disappears just as well. The synth makes more of a presence this time around, as two voices dominate the song. One similar to the previous, but the other as a whispering angered voice. A very nice tune plays out that begs of discovery which takes a stand around the two minute mark. It was an interesting sound to throw into the mix, but it worked fantastically.

REACH FOR THE SUN brings out some funky guitars with a focus on a simple, beat. Perhaps resembling efforts from EN, the song does hold its own. Coming off a bit angrier than efforts so far, KISS THE RING has a bit more bass to it. Female vocals come in, but are spoken out more than sung. There is definitely something dark and sinister about this song; it feels as if it belongs in a ceremony.

A cover of Bertolt Brecht's SALOMON SONG. It comes out nicely for a cover of a classic song. SCHICK KAPUTT has an underlying rhythm that speeds things up a bit. The synth work is a bit more aggressive, as well, but serves well. The title song TERRE HAUTE sends us packing. A slower an oddly put together song, it was still decent. The electronics that were present sounded like laser shots from a spacecraft.

But, all in all, this isn't a bad album by far for so many veterans. It is just an EP as of this far, but reaches the forty one minute mark. It's sort of funny to think that they consider this an EP, while other artists would consider it a full length album. While I did get a little bored by the end of the album, I still was able to enjoy myself. I would love to see more of Mona's vocals present in the project, though, for she does have a great voice that needs to be heard. Other than that, I just wanna see more from these guys and see which direction they go in next.

Jun 01 2014