Blutzukker - The Vampire Strikes Back

Blutzukker is...Well, they're a very interesting project. Saying that they perform "Vampire Dark Electro" and calling out such horrid vampire tales that are seen in "Twilight", Blutzukker is aiming to take back the vampire scene and bring it down to very humorous and darker roots.

What really got me about this release, though, is the amount of pop culture references found within the album. Seeing as how I am a film geek, seeing the mere title call out to "Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" was actually pretty awesome. Not only that, but they have respect for other films, such as "Fight Club", "V for Vendetta", and even "Sucker Punch". This is obviously a band that does not take itself seriously, except when it comes down to bringing out the biting music.

The songs aren't too long, with the average length of the song being about three and a half minutes. However, this is all in good intentions. The songs aren't the best, but they manage to get a very creepy essence about, perfect for Halloween parties and what-not (After all, this did release just before All Hallow's Eve of last year. Coincidence? I think not). The vocals also keep to the eerie tone, which is definitely represented in "Fright Club".

"Coffin and Cigarettes" is perhaps my favorite song on the album, as it takes a much slower pace, and includes a duet of voices. One is the standard, gruff male voice, and the other is an almost opera like female voice. The two work in unison very well, and serve to enhance each other as they really shouldn't go well together, but they do.

"Evilution [H1n1]" is another track that stands out to me, as it incorporates a lot of noise elements into the song. And, after an album filled with a lot of dark electro, I really just was not expecting this. But, hell, the more you can fit into an album, the better. "¥?$" is highly synth oriented and very fast paced, and I actually really enjoyed this track. It tamed the ADHD beast within me. The "Fright Club" BrooF remix on the album is actually very enchanting, and I enjoyed listening to it just as much as the rest of the album.

Now, as some of the songs don't do much to really get me going, such as "40 Days and 40 Bites" there is still enough content on the album to really keep you moving. Not everything is dark electro, which is wonderful, because I find myself getting a bit tiresome after listening to too much dark electro in one sitting. There's variety, and plenty of it. So, in all essence, let these chaps suck the boredom right out of you and introduce you into the dark, and often hilarious, world of the vampire. Jun 03 2013