Reviewed by: Darklight

Rudy Ratzinger (aka :wumpscut:) hasn't really delivered a great CD since Bunker Gate Seven. While Embryodead, Eevil Young Flesh and Wreath of Barbs are all good CDs, they just don't match the quality of some of :wumpscut:'s earlier work in my opinion. Most recently Wreath of Barbs really shocked :w: fans as it included several upbeat club EBM songs with vocoded vocals as well as many songs with female vocals. The overall CD was all over the place with songs that just weren't what fans had come to expect from :w:. While at first I liked the change in style, it wasn't long until Wreath of Barbs was no longer in my stereo. And it's for this reason that I didn't know what to expect from this follow-up entitled Bone Peeler. But I'm here to tell you straight up that this is the best :w: CD since Bunker Gate Seven.

This is classic type :w: done right. No vocoded vocals (except used very slightly in one song), only one song with female vocals (the last closing song) and no instrumentals. Almost every song here is old school :w: with noisy crunchy electronic programming, deep beats, dark melodies, samples and Rudy's distorted vocals. There's no club hits here, kiddies. These songs are all about mood and emotion. And these moods and emotions aren't pretty. Everything is dark and disturbing with a morbid twist.

The overall feel of the CD is somewhat dreary. There's not too many energetic songs here, but every song is good. This is the most consistent CD from :w: in a long time. But it's a little too consistent as several of the songs sound alike. While Wreath of Barbs offered too much variety, this CD doesn't offer enough. Basically, once you've heard a couple of songs, you know exactly how the entire CD sounds. This isn't a bad thing if you really like the sound offered here, but it does start to become a little redundant toward the end.

I feel that this is the best :w: CD to come out in a long time, but it's still not the masterpiece I know Rudy is capable of delivering. He's definitely on the right track, but now he just needs to bring back some of his energy, anger and aggression that he offered in classic :w: songs such as "Mortal Highway".

Reviewed by: Darklight

The first thing that surprised me about this :wumpscut: release was the cover artwork. Usually :w: album artwork is dark and morbid with photographs of dead bodies or skulls and bones. However, this album’s artwork is rather fancy in appearance with an all white backdrop and a gold foil star shape design smack dab in the center. This looks like artwork more fitting for an Apoptygma Berzerk release as opposed to a :w: one. But this change in artwork style reflects the change in the :w: sound. Rudy Ratzinger has finally decided to do something new with this project, and I couldn’t be happier.

I’ll be the first to admit that I was rather disappointed with the two previous :w: releases ‘Eevil Young Flesh’ and ’Embryodead’. They were rather bland and straight forward in their sound when compared to earlier :w: work such as the epic ‘Bunker Gate Seven’. So, while excited about a new :w: album, I was also a bit skeptical. Would Rudy just record an album full of straight forward dark distorted angry and aggressive electro-industrial songs again? Or would he finally try something new and different with this project? Thankfully, he did the latter and ’Wreath Of Barbs’ is the result.

The CD opens with the most traditional sounding :w: song on the album with “Opening The Gates Of Hell”. This is what :w: fans have come to expect from Rudy. Harsh and brutal dark noisy electro-industrial with distorted growling vox. It’s a good opening song to kick the album into gear quickly. Things start to change with track two “Deliverance”. Right from the very start of this song there is a more modern technoid sound to it. This song mixes futuristic EBM with a combination of distorted angry snarling and robotic talking. It reminded me of an older Evil’s Toy song. While it’s somewhat different for :w:, it still contains that dark edge that :w: is known for. However, the next track “Wreath Of Barbs” sounds nothing at all like :w:. It is more comparable to X Marks The Pedwalk with light uplifting EBM and robotic vocals. At first I didn’t know what to think of such a drastic departure from the past :w: sound, but after repeated listens the song grew on me. Track four “Dr. Thodt” is a haunting ambient piece with female spoken word. The noisy dreary beats help carry it along. Track five “Mankind’s Disease” is an energetic and dramatic instrumental piece similar to “Thorns” from ‘Bunker Gate Seven’. While not quite as good as that classic, it’s still a nice composition that comes in at a decent time on the album. Track six “Christfuck” is easily my favorite song here. It’s :w: of old colliding with the modern club floor EBM sound of today featuring futuristic electronic music and a catchy chorus. It’s definitely the club hit on this album. Track seven “Troops Under Fire” is another instrumental. This one is heavy and noisy with hard hitting thunderous bass beats over repetitive electronics. Also in the mix are samples that help add a little variety. But I have to admit that this is probably the least impressive track on this release. Track eight “Line Of Corpses” is the darkest song here with chilling atmospheres and eerie haunting sounds combined with a creepy female spoken word. The song is a bit repetitive up until the very end when the female vocals start chanting like opera and Rudy sounds like a demon. It’s disappointing that Rudy didn’t take this concept further for this track as it’s really impressive. Track nine “Hate Is Mine” is a dark and dreary song with scratchy noisy electronic sounds over dramatic melodies while Rudy speaks the lyrics out with anger. Track ten “Bleed In Silence” is beautifully haunting with experimental electronics, soothing synth melodies and somber male and female vocals. Track eleven “Eclipse” is a great upbeat electro-pop tune with female singing. It’s a nice song to end this enjoyable album with.

This album doesn’t really feature a lot of club hits that work well on their own. This recording works best as a complete package. It’s fully realized by listening to it from beginning to end.

If you have been a longtime fan of :w:, and have been wanting something new and different from Rudy, this Wreath Of Barbs CD is it. While at first you might not know what to make of all of the variety given here, after several listens you will be pleased with the fresh take on the old :w: sound. While I would still recommend Bunker Gate Seven and Dried Blood Of Gommorha to newcomers of :w:, this Wreath Of Barbs is a perfect follow-up to those releases as it’s different enough to allow it to stand out against all :w: albums before it.

Reviewed by: Darklight

This is the domestic release of Bunkertor 7 given a new name, a new track layout and bonus remixes. Most fans will agree, including myself, that this is the best :w: recording. This album starts off strong, and never disappoints throughout its entire playing course. Some of the best dark electro-industrial songs ever recorded are offered on this release. The variety and diversity delivered here is simply astonishing. There is a good helping of pure angry and aggressive dark EBM assaults-cold and somber darkwave compositions-and beautifully haunting instrumentals. The electronic programming/sequencing/sampling is noisy and chaotic with slamming beats over chilling melodies while Rudy Ratzinger unleashes his powerful angry distorted growling vocals.

While I do like the new track layout for the most part, I don’t agree with having the bonus remixes added before all of the original songs have been heard. It is my belief that remixes should always be put at the end of an album after all of the original songs have been heard. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. While the album still does flow smoothly from beginning to end, it would have probably worked even better if the remixes were saved as the last tracks.

The bottom line is that this is a must have CD for all :w: fans and dark EBM enthusiasts.

(*A review of the original release, "Bunketor 7" is located later in this page)

Reviewed by: Darklight

Rudy Ratzinger (a.k.a. :wumpscut:) is back with his best release since Bunkertor 7. I was rather disappointed with his previous release Embryodead, but this CD is a lot better. At first this CD didn't do too much for me as it has the standard :wumpscut: sound. But after a few listens it really grew on me. While it's definitely :wumpscut: with heavy distorted dark electro music and Rudy's unique sounding angry growling vocals, there are some good song structures here. This is dark, angry and aggressive industrial music with melody. Everything is good here, but some songs do stand out more than others. One of the songs "I Want You" is littered with pornographic samples of a girl describing her sexual fantasies. At first I didn't care for this song because the samples made it seem a bit juvenile, but after hearing it a few times I like it a lot now. This entire CD just seems to sound better the more I listen to it. This could be because multiple listens allow me to really hear all of the variety included here. One thing I didn't like at first, that I don't really mind now, is that most of the vocals in these songs are sung in German. The strange thing is that they are printed in English inside the CD booklet. There are three instrumentals here. I don't like "Witche's Dance" as it's very minimalistic, repetitive and boring. However, "Outside" is incredible and compares to that of "Thorns" from Bunkertor 7. "Longing" is a nice mellow dark instrumental that ends the CD. The song "Tell Me Now" is one of the best songs here as it blends both Rudy's vocals with a female singer. It begins slow and really picks up later on. Some of my other favorite songs here include "Wulf" and "Deadmaker". The bottom line is that if you like :wumpscut:, you will definitely like this CD. However, if you are just getting into :wumpscut:, I would suggest giving Bunkertor 7 or Dried Blood Of Gomorrha a try first. While this CD is very good, I do feel that it's time that Rudy does try something slightly different with this project as there is just too many :wumpscut: CDs out there right now that all sound fairly similar to each other. It's time for a change. 

Reviewed by: Darklight

This album contains both the "Dried Blood" and "Gomorra" EP's on one disc. These two EP's combined into one make for a full length album. The songs delivered here are easily some of the best :wumpscut: material that I have heard before. Song one "Black Death" begins rather beautiful with a female spoken word done in French. The music slowly builds into aggressive mayhem with Rudy spouting out his growling pissed off vocals. The chaos stops and the music turns romantic again. Rudy comes in and sings with a whisper until he appears to get angrier while he's singing and begins to yell while the music goes crazy. This is an excellent track filled with emotion, passion, variety and creativity. Song two "In The Night" is a dark eerie aggressive track with scratchy electronics combined with dramatic synths and growling vocals that sing very powerful. Song three "Dying Culture (First Movement)" is a great remix of the song and does fit well on this album. The haywire electronics are a little more up front while the vocals creep in the background. It's a fairly chaotic version of the song that is insane throughout. Song four "Untermensch" has dark techno energetic electronics mixed with haunting synth melodies and distroted screaming vocals. It's aggressive and would be a great dance floor hit. Song five "Body Parts" begins very cold with melodic synths and whispered voice samples. It then builds with energy as the electronics and drum programming join in to make the track noisy and fierce with distorted angry vocals shouting over it all. Samples of screaming are heard while the song plays making this one of the more chilling experiences to be enjoyed here. Song six "Crucified Division" is like a darkwave song with organic sounds mixed with synths and harmonic singing. It's still noisy and electronic, but beautiful and moody. Song seven "Funeral Diner" includes acousic guitars, electronics and heavy drum beats mixed with other organic sound effects to give this track a different feel to it. The music is a bit repetitive while the vocals basically just shout in an angry rage. Song eight "Turns Off Pain" is a very dark and moody track with haunting synths combined with deep evil sounding vocals that are very altered. A little later in the song electronics come in and make the song more energetic while Rudy sings with his traditional style of distorted anger. Song nine "Dried Blood Of Gomorrha" is the only track found here that I don't like. It's just a short noise piece. The bottom line is that this is another amazing release by :wumpscut:. Passion, emotion, anger, aggression, darkness and coldness is what this has to offer. This album is a must for every fan of electro industrial music.

Reviewed by: Darklight

I hate to say it, but this is a rather disappointing follow up to the previous :wumpscut: album "Bunkertor 7". I would think that this was earlier work because "Bunkertor 7" is a much more mature album with a lot more variety found on it. This album however is rather straight forward and structured. The first seven songs are the best to be found here because they are very catchy, dark, heavy, and aggressive with hyper electronics, haunting synth harmonies and distorted growling angry male vocals. They're all good, but don't include enough variety or make enough changes during their playing course. They start off one way and basically sound the same until they end. They're actually too structured in my opinion. I like them a lot, but they're not quite as creative as previous :wumpscut: material. The last three songs on this album I could have done without. Song eight "Womb" has decent music, but an annoying high pitched squeeky voice just talks over it. Songs nine and ten are both extremely slow and boring melodic songs that will put you to sleep. They are good for what they are, but don't have the edge that older melodic :wumpscut: songs have had. This is still a good album for the most part, but it doesn't really offer anything new or different.

Reviewed by: Darklight

This is fast paced aggressive German industrial music with a dark and moody side to it. The electronic rhythms and beats are very upbeat, and the synths are haunting. The vocals are distorted, and scream in a rage. All of the songs are very catchy, and have a unique sound. But not every song is extremely fast and aggressive. There are some extremely well done slow and melodic songs found here, too. Not to mention some of the best instrumentals that I have ever heard before. There is a lot of variety on this album. If you are a fan of German industrial bands such as Leæther Strip, you will like :wumpscut: a lot.

Reviewed by: Darklight

The first song "Soylent Green" begins hard and heavy right from the start. It's very dark and aggressive with fast paced electronics, haunting synth harmonies and distorted anger fueled vocals. Although it's fairly straight forward and structured, it is very catchy. It plays for a little longer than I feel that it should making it a bit repetitive toward the end, but it's still a very good song to start things off with. Song two "On The Run" sounds exactly like a Leaether Strip song, but this is not a bad thing because I love this style of music. Dark, fast paced, aggressive and angry electro industrial music. It's a great song. Song three "Bleed" is scratchy and distorted more than I would like. It's also very short making it seem unfinished. Song four "Fear In Motion" is a female spoken word overlaid on top of dark orchestrated haunting electronic music. I like it because it's well done and does add some variety to the standard :wumpscut: sound. Song five "Default (Aghast View Remix)" is your basic run of the mill instrumental that seems to come standard on all electro industrial albums these days. Song six "Concrete Rage" is one of the more interesting songs on the album. It's dark and aggressive with scratchy distorted sounds, electronics, samples and angry growling vocals. During its course it does make some changes that give it a dramatic feel. Song seven "She's Dead (Kirlian Camera Remix)" is a dark and haunting electronic gothic song with eerie whispered female vocals. It's a good change of pace from the distorted anger. Song eight "Koslow" returns to the extreme hard and heavy dark angst driven aggression with screaming distorted vocals. It's a bit straight forward and basic for the most part, but still quite good. Song nine "Default" is a dark techno instrumental flooded with samples. It's one of the more interesting instrumentals to be found here due to its energy and variety. Song ten "She's Dead" is a dark and haunting electronic gothic song with eerie whispered male vocals and samples. Song eleven "Believe In Me" is an instrumental that is rather experimental and full of samples. Song twelve "Dudek" mixes slight techno touches with dark electro music and growling vocals. Song thirteen "My Life" is a melodic and beautiful instrumental with samples. It's a good way to end the album. The overall feel presented in all of the songs delivered here is cold, dark, evil, violent and haunting. This is some of the darkest industrial music that I have heard.