:Wumpscut: must be one of the most succesful electro acts of the last years. This double album, called Blutkind (Bloodchild in English), is a compilation with many rare tracks. The cd also has a nice, elaborate multimedia part showing lots of images, sounds, and text, including artwork sent in by fans. Two brand-new songs, ‘Hang Him Higher’ and ‘Praise Your Fears’) have been added to make the purchase more tempting, they are rather average :W: uptempo electro songs, the latter is pretty powerful though.

Some of the tracks come from the old tapes Defcon and Small Chambermusicians, there are a few alternate versions from songs of the debut MFAST (like an instrumental ‘Soylent Green’), a few unreleased tracks and some I already knew from compilations like New Forms of Entertainment I. Many of the tracks from the early 90’s sound rather dated and only have historical merit, others have remained convincing. By the way, this is already the 2nd :W: compilation with rare tracks, after “The Mesner Tracks”.

Author: HD. Published on: Monday, November 12th, 2001.

Endlich ist es soweit. König Rudy hat seine Schmuckschatulle geöffnet, und dem lechzenden Volk einige seiner Schätze geschenkt. Songs der vergriffenen und extrem schwarzmarktteuren MCs "Defcon" und "Small Chambermusicians", sowie eine Auswahl an alten, aber unveröffentlichten Tracks bilden den Stamm für diese Doppel-CD. Ergänzt wird sie von zwei neuen Stücken namens "Hang Him Higher" und "Praise Your Fears". Diese gehen den mit "Boeses Junges Fleisch" eingeschlagenen Weg weiter, und werden sicherlich auch in Clubs zum Standard werden.

Die raren und unveröffentlichten Schlager sind mit Sicherheit eine Bereicherung für jeden Fan und Sammler, obwohl der eine oder andere Topsong auf dieser DoCD fehlt (wie z.B. "God" oder "Das Gespensterschiff"). Die "neuen" Fans werden wahrscheinlich mit dieser Veröffentlichung nicht so viel anfangen können, da diese Tracks fast allesamt aus der frühen Periode Wumpscuts stammen. Denn neben der Tatsache, daß sie - wie gewohnt klasse sind - passen sie doch eher ins Genre Industrial. Die letzten Platten, wie z.B. "Embryodead" oder eben "Boeses Junges Fleisch", sind eher im Elektro anzusiedeln. Lediglich oben genannte Titel klingen etwas neuer. Aber um die eigene Sammlung preisgünstig zu vervollständigen, sollte man diese Platte besitzen.

Als Bonus gibt es noch einige PC-Tracks mit Photos, Texten und so weiter. Ne' runde Sache.

Holger Galla

By Warrior, Rate: 4/5

Bevor ich zu Sache komme, noch ein paar Worte zur Entstehungsgeschichte der Blutkind vorweg: Die Blutkind ist keine 'neue' CD, sondern beinhaltet in erster Linie Rohentwürfe von bereits veröffentlichen Stücken, rares Material und Lieder, die bisher in der Schublade lagen, also offiziell nicht veröffentlicht wurden. Daneben gibt es einen Multimediatrack, der alle Lyrics, ausgewähltes Artwork, Fotos von :W:-Fans, Lebenslauf und Bestellmöglichkeiten beinhaltet. Nur zwei Tracks sind wirklich neu. (Hang Him Higher, Praise Your Fears) Insgesamt ergibt das 33 (dreiunddreißig) Musik- und einen Datentrack auf zwei CDs.

Meine Meinung: Also, taugt die Blutkind nun was oder nicht? Wenn das so einfach zu beantworten wäre, hätte ich mir die Vorrede sparen können. Wie immer im Leben, ist die Wahrheit ein bisschen kompliziert. Das beginnt schon allein damit, daß hier Stücke aus der gesamten Schaffungsperiode von :W: enthalten sind. Das bedeutet auch, daß sich diese CD einer Einordnung in einer bestimmte Stilrichtung entzieht. Es gibt Stücke, die klingen wie Synthiepop, andere eher wie Industrial und natürlich gibt es auch ein wenig EBM. Dazu kommt noch, daß sich einige Tracks nicht 'mal eben so' anhören lassen; es sind eben auch einige Rohentwürfe dabei, die nicht gerade 'rund' klingen. Und das sollen sie wohl auch nicht. Rudy macht sich erst gar nicht die Mühe, dem Hörer irgendwelche Konzessionen zuzugestehen.

Mit Sicherheit wird diese Doppel-CD die Hörerschaft spalten. Unberührt bleibt davon keiner. Wenn man nun sehr bösartig ist, könnte man hergehen und sagen: Naja, auf der E+ und auf der Fleisch waren zumindest ein oder zwei geniale Tracks drauf, auf der Kind sind es jetzt Null bis eins. Das ist deswegen ungerecht, eben weil es sich nicht um eine neue CD handelt, sondern mehr um ein Archiv; eine Sammlung von Dingen, die zwar Bestanteil der Schaffenskraft von :W: sind, sich bisher jedoch einer Veröffentlichung entzogen haben. Mein Fazit: Für :wumpscut:-Fans ein absolutes Muß. Endlich alle Lyrics auf einer CD vereint, das Artwork ist sowieso Klasse und für regelmässige Tempel-Besucher gibt es im Fan-Bereich das eine oder andere Aha-Erlebnis. Allen anderen sei dringend empfohlen, vor dem Kauf so gut wie möglich 'reinzuhören.

Andy 'Endlich, die Karaoke-Version von Soylent Green!' F.

BlutKind is a 2CD collection of rare and previously unreleased :W: material. It is really a superb collection, including two new tracks as well, "Hang Him Higher" and "Praise Your Fears".

Many of the tracks on this 2 disc collection are more instrumental, and explore deeper layers of Rudy R's talent for creating a landscape in your mind via his music. The tracks "Irak 1 (first take)" and "Flangegod" are my personal favorites from this collection. "Flangegod" has a really good beat to it, and it builds up until there's no place left to go.

All in all, this is a release not to be missed by :W: and electro fans alike.

Reviewed by gundam

Rating: 5 of 6
Coolness: 10

after initial anger, disappointment and disbelief followed last :w: releases, I can look calmly at this :w: disc and take it as a tribute to things past. at this point I can say that whatever :w: possessed, the raw power, anger, force and vision of endzeit electro are gone, and any attempt to revive them by rudy himself result in a soulless "flat" sound that lacks any emotions that have been replaced by polished, well-produced, technically flawless exercises in sound manipulation. all new material has been released last year strikes me as cartoonish, immature and unnatural.

this fact is even more obvious on two new tracks present on this double cd - fast paced "praise your fears" that is so incredibly similar to "touch" by klinik. "hang him higher" comes close to raw piercing emotions of "bunkertor7", but something is still missing, something so painfully obvious and yet intangible.

a sad unsettling feeling haunts you when you look at a vast number of photos, pictures of fans, rare and unreleased artwork that comes with the cd. looking through at the artwork, you notice a gradual transition from pure and strong early years to present unbelievably artificial imagery.

legendary status of the band, unreasonably high expectations for the upcoming material prevents the fans from taking any new music objectively, and after all, rudy is not the same, and it is sad to see him moving off the scene, losing the strength and anger that was driving him all these years.

old material on this album is definitely not the "best of", and it is not intended to be. most of the tracks here represent early :w:, with sound ranging from minimal ebm to really atmospheric tracks. my all-time goofy favorites "tschuesch domos" and "zech groove" are here as well (for a long time I have been a proud owner of "new forms of entertainment" comp, and now those tracks have been released for the wide audience).

old-time hits were not left out and still stand out strong - tuned-down "soylent green" instrumental, two parts of incredible "irak", painfully strong "koslow", harsh beauty of "default"; minimal atmospheric "march of the crying" and simple grace of "crucified" would gain them the status of "new found classics"…

it would have been a strong and successful move at peak of :w: fame, but now it only makes it worse and more painful for the fans, seeing this ebm icon taken down from its pedestal by tracks like "k.u.t.t.", "anaesthetics", "stomp"…

"blutkind" is an incredibly interesting release for those trying to trace back the origins and influences of :w:, but in the absence of any interesting current material it is yet another sad hint of decay.

for the feel of old :w: spirit I would recommend looking at his protégé infact (his latest release is incredibly reminiscent of early :w: with its raw force and yet modern powerful sound), new b-ton-k, feindflug, pierrepoint. after all, they continue where rudy left off, and you should move on after paying tribute to the "master of endzeit electro".

anton

Mr. Rudy Ratzinger back with this great double compilation cd, 34 tracks from older recordings and 2 new tracks, you can find the 2 first demo tapes "Defcon" and "Small Chambermusicians" with other rare and deleted tracks with all the hits, definitely this is a fan collector album.

You can scan the multimedia track (second disc), with info from the early years of :wumpscut:, history, pictures, concept, art-work and pics from fans around the world.

A great "comic" artwork in the cd and booklet!

Yes :WUMPSCUT: rules !!!

H I G H L Y R E C O M M E N D E D

OTTO

Since "The mesner tracks", :Wumpscut: has taken the habit to release a CD of rarities or oddities every once in a while, the latest being the terribly long and repetitive double remix CD "Totmacher". This time, for "Blutkind", we also get a double-CD (but, thank God, with different tracks), featuring old, almost unreleased material and two new songs, as well as a multimedia part.

Since "Boeses Junges Fleisch" had been so badly received, and "Ich will dich" was a complete disaster, Rudy Ratzinger has had to release something that would please the old :Wumpscut: fans, those who don't really understand how the man that produced CDs as great as "Music for a slaughtering tribe" or "Bunkertor 7" has been able to do "Boeses Junges Fleisch". "Blutkind" is here to please these fans and to allow the younger ones to check old stuff that is no longer available (part of which was even supposed "not to be released anymore", according to the "Preferential Legacy" booklet...).

On "Blutkind", you get two new songs, "Hang Him Higher" and "Praise your fears", which are really good. The first one is a great :W: track, that makes you forget the latest productions from the project. Then, 11 tracks are taken from the two :W: demo tapes, some songs being taken from the "Preferential Legacy" LP (but the whole LP is not featured on "Blutkind"), in remastered versions. 16 songs are old material that had never seen the light of the day before, and the rest are alternative versions of "Music for a slaughtering tribe" tunes.

Anybody who knows what :Wumpscut: was doing at its beginning won't be really surprised by the unreleased tracks. But people who started to listen to :W: later will discover that Rudy has written a lot of dark, slow and instrumental songs that are definitely sadder and more depressed than its current material (the influence of Kirlian Camera, maybe). Some of this material is very good ('Pornography". "Stomp", "Slovakian Hell", or "The Hellion", with some guitar riffs sampled from Slayer), while some is less pleasant ("K-u-t-t", "Zech Groove").

Listening to "Blutkind" will remind you of the reasons why you liked :Wumpscut: in the first place. Extremely well done dark electronic music with emotional keyboards and stomping beats (even though "War Combattery" didn't make it on this 2CD). From these roots, nothing bad could grow, and you get an idea of the source from which "Music for a slaughtering tribe" came.

The multimedia track on the second CD is quite nice. It uses some comics-like design that fits well the new :W: orientation, and features a small biography of Rudy Ratzinger, a lot of pictures from releases, friends and fans, lyrics for most of the songs, and details about how to order :W: CDs directly from the bunker. Well done, this track is however not what I would have expected, since there isn't much here that couldn't have been on :W:'s website.

All in all, "Blutkind" is a very pleasant release, that will help you go back to your :Wumpscut: CDs and appreciate them. I don't know what the project is up to, but I sincerely hope Rudy will get some of his ideas from the songs on this "Blutkind".

Nicolas - June 5, 2000

Der Meister öffnet seine Archive. Und was sich da alles verbirgt, ist interessant, abwechslungsreich und zum Großteil auch richtig gut! Waren viele dieser Tracks bislang gar nicht oder nur zu überteuerten Preisen erhältlich, kann nun endlich auch der Fan mit schmalem Geldbeutel (2 randvolle CDs, 33 Songs, ein Multimediatrack, dickes Booklet, alles zum Preis einer normalen CD! Dickes Lob!!!) die Frühwerke von :w: sein eigen nennen. Außer der Tatsache, daß das von musikhistorischem Interesse ist - zumindest, wenn man auf Electro, Industrie & Co steht - macht es einfach Spaß, sich durch die Songs durchzuhören. Manches klingt ein wenig nach Leaether Strip, dann wieder vermeint man Anklänge an andere Werke der frühen 90er zu vernehmen - Rudy R. gibt hier auch ein wenig seiner Wurzeln und Einflüsse preis. Logisch, daß der Output noch nicht ganz so glattpoliert und hochproduziert klingt wie die letzten regulären :w:- Veröffentlichungen - dennoch hört man schon in den frühen Stücken die Qualitäten heraus, die :w: ausmachen. Abgesteckt wird das ganze Spektrum von eher krachigen Songs im "MFAST"-Stil bis hin zu fast trancigen Sequencen. Richtig lustig wird's dann mit "Tschüsch domos" und "Zech Groove", wo bewiesen wird, daß Noise lustig ist!

Ich denke mal, daß man diese Tracks auch bald in den Clubs (wieder-)hören wird... zwei neue Stücke gibt's auch noch, die weder schlecht noch herausragend gut sind; typische :w:-Songs halt. Wer jetzt "Kohlemacherei!" oder ähnliches schreit, sollte sich mal überlegen, daß viele Fans diese Stücke wollten, und Rudy hat mit "Blutkind" wirklich eine fette Package geschnürt, so daß man hier wirklich nicht den Vorwurf der Abzocke oder ähnliches machen kann.

:w:-Fans ist die DCD nur ans Herz zu legen, aber auch allen anderen Anhängern der harten frühneunziger Elektronik. Gutes Teil!

AJR

:Wumpscut: must be one of the most succesful electro acts of the last years. This double album, called Blutkind (Bloodchild in English), is a compilation with many rare tracks. The cd also has a nice, elaborate multimedia part showing lots of images, sounds, and text, including artwork sent in by fans. Two brand-new songs, 'Hang Him Higher' and 'Praise Your Fears') have been added to make the purchase more tempting, they are rather average :W: uptempo electro songs, the latter is pretty powerful though.

Some of the tracks come from the old tapes Defcon and Small Chambermusicians, there are a few alternate versions from songs of the debut MFAST (like an instrumental 'Soylent Green'), a few unreleased tracks and some I already knew from compilations like New Forms of Entertainment I. Many of the tracks from the early 90's sound rather dated and only have historical merit, others have remained convincing. By the way, this is already the 2nd :W: compilation with rare tracks, after "The Mesner Tracks".

This is the first electro cd to be reviewed in Sententia. This is not because I don't like electro, in fact, I highly enjoy this music at times. Point is that I don't like most electro releases and therefor I seldom buy one. The chance is too big that I won't like the cd at all. :W: (as the band's name is most often abbreviated) used to be my favourite electro act by far. I have the first five cds (three full-lenghts, two minis), but after that the releases didn't appeal to me anymore. This "old-new" thing also shows on "Blutkind" (which means bloodchild by the way). "Blutkind" is a double cd for the price of a normal cd and contains tracks from the 91 and 92 demos "Defcon" and "Small Chambermusicians" and is filled up with unreleased material, old and new versions of old tracks, two new tracks and a multimedia track. The latter is a flash-like little program with an awfull lot of pictures, lyrics, music, biography, etc. Looks pretty damn nice too! Definately the tracks from the demos are the best of this 2cd. They are the extremely harsch industrial - electro tracks that I love from the early cds. Distorted sounds, distorted vocals, crazy rhythms and funny samples. The first cd mostly contains these danceble sounds. The second cd contains quite a lot of ambient-like tracks and some softer electro. That last is also to be found on the later cds and that is where I left :W: for what it was. Also with the newer style the darkness and grim humour seems to be decrease.

But, this cd is a good introduction for people who don't know :W: yet. They can hear the old and the new style, read about the history, view and extensive discography and listen to about 140 minutes of music for a relatively small price. And not to give you the wrong impression: there is enough good stuff on this cd to enjoy me too! <30/5/00><3>

rating: 3. allright enough to play once in a while

Bloodchild (Metropolis)

In the early 90's, Rudy Ratzinger was a club DJ in Germany who spun and fell in love with all kinds of electronic music, from gothic to industrial. He started putting together some of his own work soon afterward and was soon on his way to becoming a big name in the genre. With influences that range from Skinny Puppy to KMFDM. Although he's been fairly prolific since starting out, many of his releases weren't as available domestically (or nearly at all, as two of them were cassette-only releases in runs of under 100 copies) until the compilation of this 2-CD, 33 song set. Not only that, but he also offers up a large slew of previously unreleased tracks, as well as two brand spanking new ones.

Unlike the dancier sounds of labelmates like VNV Nation and Covenant, Wumpscut tends to get a little bit more sludgy on most of the earlier tracks, while on others a bit of a newer edge comes into play. The dates on the creation of the tracks spans 9 years and while some of them sound a bit dated, the release flows pretty well given that consideration.

The release actually starts off with a new track entitled "Hang Him Higher" and it shows that Ratzinger is only getting better with time. Offsetting some pretty chimes and synth strings with a thick, pulsing beat and distorted vocals that recall work by the aforementioned Skinny Puppy. While their are tracks like the simple "Stomp" (from one of his very early releases Small Chambermusicians) that feel more like incomplete thoughts than full songs, they're offset with interesting instrumentals (from the same release) like "Crucified" that bring to mind work by Muslimgauze if he threw a little bit of gothic sounds in the mix. "Pornography" (from his very first release Defcon) samples Jello Biafra and sounds a bit dated with it's layered synths and electro pulses, but is still interesting as a document of how the groups sound has progressed. The two-part "Run Like Hell" cranks the BPMs up a bit with stutter-step drum machines and a grimy synth line.

The second disc follows suit with a bunch more tracks that range from older songs from earlier releases to songs from the vault and one new one to lead things off. Again, probably the best track on the disc musically is the newest song, and it runs on a faster beat and a sample of the ubiquitous announcer of movie trailers that works into the aggressive track nicely. He even tries his hand at an ambient track ("Frozen Images") and it works quite well as a break from the heavier cranking as it pulses along like a quiet stream with layered, shimmering synths.

One of the coolest parts about the release for fans of Wumpscut will be the rather large multimedia piece on the second disc. Although there are only four sections (with pictures, FAQ, lyrics, and a direct-link mail-order), the two sections are completely packed with information. The pictures section not only includes album artwork for all releases, but tons of fan art and pictures of fans as well. If that weren't enough, lyrics to every single song also appear in the lyrics section. It's simple, but there's a lot of interesting information, and if you're a fan that appears, there's no better thank you from the artist. Basically, the release boils down to being more of an appealing one to fans because it fills in the back catalogue and while there are some solid tracks, the newer material by the group is much more better. It's a great compilation of early work, though, and lots of fun for the hardcore Wumpscut "blut kinder."

rating: 6.25

WUMPSCUT - BLOODCHILD metropolis

Pièces rares et fond de tiroirs, voilà ce que monsieur Ratzinger a à nous offrir sur cette double compilation de réchauffé d'outre-tombe. Après le mélange plutôt fade proposé sur Eevil Young Flesh, il ne fait nul doute que ça fait du bien entendre du "nouveau" matériel datant de l'âge d'or de Wumpscut. On se croirait au beau milieu de "Music for a Slaughtering Tribe" ou "Dried Blood", de quoi se remémorer de bons moments quoi! Malheureusement Blutkind demeure une compilation s'adressant principalement aux fans des premières heures et si vous n'en faites pas parti vous risquez d'être déçu par un son moins produit et des compositions expérimentales. A noter la présence de deux nouvelles pièces (très moyennes) et d'une piste CDROM très belle mais dépourvue de contenu intéressant. Excellente compilation de fond de tiroir, mais pour fans seulement.

Yanik Trudeau

Rezension von Nils Bettinger

Wumpscut machen mit ihrem kommenden Release alles klar. 33 Audio-Tracks (!!!) auf 2 CDs - und als ob das nicht genug wäre, legen sie auch noch einen Multimedia-Track mit Bildern, Fanworks, Artwork, Infos & Lyrics aller jemals geschriebenen Wumpscut-Tracks hinzu.

Das ganze im Jewel-Case zum Preis einer normalen CD! Wahnsinn... das nenne ich mal Service am Fan. Zwar wurden viele Der Songs bereits einmal veröffentlicht, aber dann auf Tonträgern mit einer Auflage von 50 oder 70 Stück. Und diese Tracks hat mit Sicherheit nicht jeder Fan in entsprechender Qualität in seiner Sammlung.

Mir liegt die Promo-CD vor, die eine Vorauswahl von 10 Tracks beinhaltet. Die 10 Tracks alleine sind es schon wert.

Die CD erscheint am 25.04.2000 - Wumpscut-Fans: Zugreifen! :-)

klangwald wertung: 9 von 10 Punkten

An einer Veröffentlichung aus dem Hause :Wumpscut: kommt man heutzutage nicht mehr vorbei, selbst wenn diese wie die vorliegende Doppel-CD "BlutKind" in erster Linie eine Zusammenstellung alter und rarer Tracks ist. Diese sind hauptsächlich den seit langem vergriffenen Tapes "Defcon" sowie "Small Chambermusicians" entnommen und veranschaulichen sehr gut, wie sich Rudy Ratzingers Endzeit-Projekt in seinen Anfängen anhörte.

So findet man auf "BlutKind" viele Instrumentalstücke, die noch nicht so sehr in die Brachial-Electro-Ecke zielen, sondern auch die von rituell-inspirierter Musik und Bands wie In The Nursery beeinflußte Seite von :Wumpscut: zeigen. Für die neu hinzugekommenen :W:-Fans ist mit den zwei neuen Reißern "Praise Your Fears" und "Hang Him Higher" aber allemal bestes Clubfutter vorhanden und auch der Multi-Media-Track mit Bildern, Infos und allen Lyrics genügt höchsten Ansprüchen. Alles in allem ein sattes Fan-Paket zum Albumpreis! Wer da nicht zugreift, ist selbst schuld!

Copyright by SONIC SEDUCER und Marc

UCM 21, by moondog

After the brutal "Eevil Young Flesh" album last year, :wumpscut: aka Ratzinger, Rudy, strikes back with this stuffed double CD set, besides several re-released albums he did in the early nineties. Before I'll write more lines here, just look at the tracklist... it's marvellous...

...tracklist...

CD1-o1 Hang Him Higher (new track)
CD1-o2 Koslof (from the album "Music For A Slaughtering Tribe" '93)
CD1-o3 Anaesthetics (previously unreleased track)
CD1-o4 Time Ticks Away (previously unreleased track)
CD1-o5 Stomp (from the album "Small Chambermusicians" '92)
CD1-o6 Flangegod (previously unreleased track)
CD1-o7 Irak1 (1st take) (previously unreleased track)
CD1-o8 Irak1 (2nd take) (from the album "Small Chambermusicians" '92)
CD1-o9 Logic Of War (previously unreleased track)
CD1-1o Crucified (from the album "Small Chambermusicians" '92)
CD1-11 Neolith (from the album "Small Chambermusicians" '92)
CD1-12 Pornography (from the album "Defcon" '91)
CD1-13 The Hellion (from the album "Defcon" '91)
CD1-14 Run Like Hell Part1 (previously unreleased track)
CD1-15 Run Like Hell Part2 (previously unreleased track)
CD1-16 Soylent Green (from the album "Music For A Slaughtering Tribe" '93)
CD1-17 Default (from the album "Music For A Slaughtering Tribe" '93)

CD2-o1 -multimedia track-
CD2-o2 Praise Your Fears (new track)
CD2-o3 The Dark Chamber (previously unreleased track)
CD2-o4 Frozen Images (previously unreleased track)
CD2-o5 Phase Shifter (from the album "Defcon" '91)
CD2-o6 Throbberstalk (from the album "Defcon" '91)
CD2-o7 Clinics (previously unreleased track)
CD2-o8 K-U-T-T (previously unreleased track)
CD2-o9 Equal Eye (previously unreleased track)
CD2-1o Slovakian Hell (previously unreleased track)
CD2-11 March Of The Crying (previously unreleased track)
CD2-12 Irak2 (previously unreleased track)
CD2-13 To The Sky (previously unreleased track)
CD2-14 Eternal (from the album "Small Chambermusicians" '92)
CD2-15 Lamandier (previously unreleased track)
CD2-16 Tschüsch Domos (from the album "Small Chambermusicians" '92)
CD2-17 Zech Groove (from the album "Small Chambermusicians" '92)

Woah! 33 music tracks and one multimedia track, featuring the lyrics of all :W: tracks so far, a load pictures. Hmmm... 33 tracks?! Is it a best off? Surely not, even if there are some of the most impressing :W: tracks included, like the kewl "Soylent Green". So what is Rudy doing then? Emptied he just his trashcan? Is he running out of ideas? Does he want to suck out the money of his fans? All wrong...

At first, Rudy decided to put a bunch of tracks from his first releases, from the tapes "Small Chambermusicians" and "Defcon" onto this CD set. "Defcon" was released with just 5o copies and the otherone with just 7o. No question that both releases are hard or better not to get anymore, at least as original stuff, maybe just as tape copies of shitty sound quality. Now those tracks are digital remastered and open for a bigger community.

At second... nope, he doesn't grabbed something out of the trashcan. All those unreleased tracks showing the ideas of Rudy and his power in creating music and over all in some way his roots and ways. Ok, some of the tracks are a bit hard digestible. Furthermore he came up with two cool new tracks too, changing the way he directed with "Eevil Young Flash" back to harder noises again.

At third... this double CD costed only 35 DM, not much more than a normal CD album and when you think what you will get for that price it is easy to see that he don't wants to exploit his fans.

Ok, time to take a closer look to the tracks. I don't want to write something about every track, it would be a bit too much and tastes are different. So I'll start with tracks that are worth to be checked out.

"Hang Him Higher" - after the very hard "Eevil Young Flesh" album this track is going back to Rudi's roots. It isn't that hard industrial sound anymore, but more electronic under use of german sound samples, very melodic and sometimes even a bit depressive... this tune seems to stand in a line with the smasher "Soylent Green"...

"Time Ticks Away" - that unreleased song is hard to describe, but lives from its kewl oldschool-electronic/wave-drum play. The rest of the song is built of hard distorted voices and sounds... only for fans of minimalistic electronics...

"Flangegod" - Yeah! That song truely rocks! Even the first beats offering a good drive, fast and stretched drums, the right thing to stomp around on the floor.

"Neolith" - A slow track that could set you in trance with its ambient noises and soundscapes.

"Soylent Green" - A classic! Maybe one of the best known tracks :WUMPSCUT" ever released. Unfortunately it is just the instrumental version... "unfortunately" because the song lives not only from the cool speech samples from the movie but also from Rudi's singing, that is missing here.

"Default" - Another oldschool ebm/industrial stomper, goes straight forward but is a bit short with just 2,5 minutes.

"Praise Your Fears" - The second new song, isn't of that quality as the otherone but has enough drive to set the dancefloor on fire. The major drawbacks are the too often use of the same samples.

"The Dark Chamber" - reminds me sometimes a bit to Skinny Puppy, therefore it is mentioned here.

Here some examples for strange tracks...

"The Hellion" - This crude song mixes hardrock with electronix, an apocylptic thingie... and because I don't like hardrock and heavy metal the whole thing isn't my taste at all...

"Run Like Hell Part2" - Another cruel song, just featuring soundscapes, disted noises and heavy stretched speech samples. Just for freaks.

"Frozen Images" - A true ambient song! Could be played in the chill out zone of a raver disco as well!

"K-U-T-T" - This track is pure electronic hell! Just distorted voice samples, the crulest noises and most stretched and looped strings... horrible and only for masochists...

"Lamandier" - Another example of Rudi's strange experiments! It seems as he has heard too much QNTAL, a great medieval/electronic musix project around the german darkwave legend "Deine Lakaien".

Ok, that is just a small view onto the things... but as you can see this CD is surely more for people of oldschool electronix or better industrial. It features a lot of strange oldfashioned tracks as well as some nice stompers. I wouldn't say to someone, who's interested in :WUMPSCUT:s music because he got his last album, to buy this workshow, nope. This album is more thought for real -Rudi- fans and for the one who're missing some of his early releases.

And what else? The bonus stuff isn't that brainblasting. The multimedia track is sometimes a bit childish, sorry. Cool is a very big picture gallery, showing old and new artwork, pictures of fans and shows. Usual are mailorder and the complete lyrics (german and english!)...

Time to find an end, eh? "BLUTKIND" is a pure workshow album, no true "bestoff". It features tracks of 1o years :WUMPSCUT:, such as unreleased, rare and new ones of different quality and for different tastes. A point I enjoyed is the nice design of the CD box, featuring some black humor stuff like little bloodchilds, playing on a graveyard with skulls and digging out some tombstones, grin... The price for this double CD is quiet ok, but after all it's more a CD for the true :WUMPSCUT: fans, not for newbies on that sector. I would say it would be better to check it out in the store before buying it blind.

Nieuw en ook weer niet, op twee nummers ("Hang him higher" en "Praise your fears") na bestaat de nieuwe :Wumpscut: release uit oud en zeldzaam materiaal afkomstig van de tapes "Defcon" (50 exemplaren) en "Small chambermusicians" (70 exemplaren) aangevuld met een aantal nooit eerder uitgebrachte DAT-opnames die tijdens de jaarlijkse grote schoonmaak van Rudy's 'speelkamertje' werden terug gevonden. Wees dan ook gewaarschuwd, deze "Blutkind" valt nauwelijks te vergelijken met enige andere :Wumpscut: release, al komt het, ondertussen meermaals heruitgebrachte debut "Music for a slaughtering tribe" ("Soylent green", "Default" en "Koslow" uit dit album zijn in andere versies present op "Blutkind") met z'n uitvoerig atmosferische gedeelte, nog het best in de buurt. Diegene die fel ontgoocheld waren in het vorige album "Böses junges Fleisch", waarin een veel commerciëler en zelfs door techno beïnvloed geluid was te horen kunnen evenwel de aankoop van deze dubbel-cd overwegen. De nieuwe nummers, slechts 2 op een totaal van 33, zijn niet meteen uitschieters en sluiten eerder aan bij de "Böses junges Fleisch" sound dan bij de eerder rauwe en agressieve endzeit electro waarmee meneer Ratzinger beroemd werd. De oude nummers van :Wumpscut: worden overduidelijk gekenmerkt door '80 referenties die de ene keer minimaal en ritmisch en de andere keer melodisch voor de dag komen. Bij "Blutkind" ligt dan ook veel meer de nadruk op sfeer, al is die, in goeie :Wumpscut: tradite dan vooral verderfelijk, somber en claustrofobisch. Omwille van de dansbaarheidsfactor hoef je deze cd dus al niet te kopen want het gros van de nummers zijn behoorlijk rustige, instrumentale soundscapes die hier en daar worden ingekleurd met apocalyptische samples. 'All rock music is pornography' gaat door voor de meest vrolijke. De oorlog waait al enige jaren door het brein van Ratzinger wat meteen songtitels als "Irak 1" (first en second take),"Irak 2", "Logic ogf war", "Slovakian hell" oplevert. Andere songtitels doen net als de muziek sporadisch aan de oude Klinik denken (diezelfde zwartgalligheid en tot de essentie gebalde songtitels), vooral op het nummer "Clinics" (een eerbetoon) is dit het geval maar o.a. ook "Equal eye", " "Stomp" en "K-U-T-T" komen aardig in de buurt. Opmerkelijk is ook de gitaar in "The Hellion" en de tracks "Tsueusch Domos" en "Zech Groove" die ons een soort hyperkenetische electro brengen doorspeend met schizofreen geschreeuw (Stunde Null noemen we dit in België). Verder prijs ik jullie graag atmosferiche nummers als "Anaesthetics", "Flancegod", "Neolith" en "Frozen images" alsook de meer uptempo (en dus dansbaarder?) songs "Defaultt (alternative take"), "The dark chamber" en "Slovakian Hell" aan. Meteen het lijstje van de voor mij meest opvallende bijdragen op deze "Blutkind" al klinkt een instrumentale versie van dé :Wumpscut: hit "Soylent green" ook behoorlijk. Hopelijk is deze release van oud materiaal geen bewust opgetrokken rookgordijn om een gebrek aan inspiratie te verbergen maar krijgen we in de nabije toeksomst ook een volwaardig nieuw : Wumpsut: album, die we dan uiteraard weer op onze manier zullen beoordelen. Liefhebbers van een ouder (lees '80) donker en obscuur electro geluid zullen ongetwijfeld hun gading vinden op deze "Blutkind", die je als actueel electro liefhebber eveneens een eerlijke kans moet geven al was het maar om vast te stellen dat electronische muziek niet persé dansbaar moet en hoeft te zijn. Het multimediagedeelte ('fanwork', beeldmateriaal, ...) nemen we er uiteraad graag bij.

[KI]

Rudi R. meldet sich mit einem neuen Album seiner Endzeit Electronics zurück. Die Doppel-CD "Blutkind" bietet zwei neue, alte und bisher unveröffentlichte Stücke des bajuwarischen Totmachers. Gleich die ersten beiden Songs, "Hang Him Higher" und "Praise Your Fears" knallen voll rein und werden uns sicher bald auf den Tanzflächen entzücken, so, wie man es von :W: gewohnt ist. Danach geht's erstaunlicherweise experimenteller weiter : Samples, satte Klangatmosphären und sogar Metal-Einflüsse (Judas Priest???) führen in Rudy's apokalyptisches Wunderland der Dark Electronics und geben dem Album etwas triphaftes. Also gleich zwei fette Scheiben und Verpflichtung für alle Finsterelectroliebhaber, und das Coolste ist sowieso dieser fiese Mutanten-Schlumpf auf dem Cover!

G. Gerwin

by Jonny EOL
EOL Rating: 4.5/10

Blutkind is a 2CD compilation of :Wumpscut: archive material, reviving tracks from the demo tapes ‘Small Chambermusicians’ and ‘Defcon’ along with previously unreleased material, as well as two new tracks to sweeten the package. It is one of these new tracks (’Hang Him Higher’) that proves to be the collections highlight, the delicate strings and synth chimes giving way to a robust industrial stomp, the resultant combination proving more successful than anything off his previous album ‘Boeses Junges Fleisch’. As for the arcive material, whilst there are a few early versions of well-known :Wumpscut: tracks (including a pointless instrumental of ‘Soylent Green’ but also an interesting take on ‘Default’), the bulk of the collection is made up of tracks that never made it onto any of the actual albums.

There’s a sizable number of arp-heavy EBM tracks (some more melodic than others), some slower ambient/ethereal pieces (’Frozen Images’, ‘March of the Crying’ and ‘Lamandier’ all working particularly well) plus a number of what could politely be described as ’sonic experiments’, the best of these being the virtuoso guitar sample on ‘The Hellion’. Whilst these recordings will be of interest to those devotees who lap up everything with the big :W: on it, the reality is that this collection still feels more like a filing cabinet of ideas and a tribute to Rudy’s influences that a collection of fully developed songs - these demos seems to be showcasing musical concepts, not fully realised productions. The production quality is thin compared with the studio albums - excusable considering these are technically demos, but still obvious to the listener.

NOTE: This collection was later reissued as a single CD - this is the version you’ll find for sale now. This version omits those songs that also appear on the ‘Preferential Legacy’, though this unfortunately includes some of the stronger tracks such as ‘Pornography’ and ‘The Hellion’. Since both collections appeal to more or less the same type of fan, you’ll probably end up buying both or neither, but if you’re stuck, I’d go for the other one, myself.

Probably one of this year's most prominent and personally relevant releases. As to not shade the review any, this is my first exposure to Wumpscut. Most of you realize my tastes lean toward the death and black aspects of metal, so for this group to sponge my interest like it did lends a fair amount of credence to the possibility of opening new doors to varieties of expansive listening for me. I have probably spun this disc more than any other promo I've reviewed in a very long time -- if ever. The Wumpscut sound is so a propos to whatever mood or time of the day seems to dominate at the very moment you slide in a CD. Make no mistake, Wumpscut has little or nothing to do with metal; techno/industrial is the force to be reckoned with here. I'm moderately unsure of the terms "techno" and "industrial", as a whole, but they do seem to identify Wumpscut nearly perfect. This might not need mentioning, but Wumpscut is focused by along the beam of outstanding German electronic artists; in this case, Rudy Ratzinger. As a stab at the band's sound, let's just say that I whipped out my copy of Hanzel und Gretyl's _Ausgeflippt_ and found it massively less satisfying now in light of _Bloodchild_. About as close as I can get is a ham-handed comparison to labelmates Funker Vogt. This is the primary reason comparisons mostly fail to accomplish their task adequately of giving the listener/reader a parallel basis for judgement. Even the Funker Vogt contrast is not up to par due to the fact that FV is less languid and casual than Wumpscut's leaden beat and approach. I won't get into the entire history of the group, but it does stretch back to the very early nineties with some releases on other labels until 1996, when the impressive Wumpscut was picked up by Metropolis Records. The group has a solid number of efforts under its belt, and even though I only have ten cuts from _Bloodchild_'s new double CD compilation, complete with re-issues of some of the group's earliest material with rarities and a special multimedia track for computers, I still find myself in awe. It goes without saying, the complete _Bloodchild_ must be -astounding-! My new-found impression and interest in Wumpscut won't make writing my Funker Vogt review very easy. I'd certainly urge you to head to www.metropolis-records.com and find at least one way to expand your musical horizons -- with Wumpscut's help, of course.