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.

An obsession with skulls and photographs from the holocaust dominates the booklet of :Wumpscut:'s CD Music For A Slaughtering Tribe. And, like another black plague, this preoccupation with horror and death also courses through every track of this extremely dark and morbid release. The music on Music For A Slaughtering Tribe is characterized by brutally distorted percussion, media samples, shrill synth themes, Rudy Ratzinger's nihilist lyrics and processed vocals that sound like death itself.

Ratzinger recieved assistance from other musicians on a few of the tracks, breaking the otherwise rather monotone and repetitive sound of this album. "On The Run," "Bleed," "Concrete Rage," "Koslow," "Default," "Dudek" and -- to some extent -- the original version of "She's Dead" all feature the grating, noisy, but quite simple :Wumpscut: song structures. Departing somewhat from his conventional formula, the two collage-like tracks "Believe In Me" and "My Life" -- both located towards the end of the CD -- contain gratuitous use of samples and contorted spoken words by Ratzinger.

"Fear In Motion" features Aleta Welling as guest vocalist. It is a short, but, very powerful piece, based on a deep hollow beat, with Welling delivering her vocals in a manner reminiscent of Nico -- reciting and screaming rather than actually singing the angst-ladden lyrics.

The remixes of "Default" and "She's Dead" (by Aghast View and Kirlian Camera, respectively) are quite extensive reworkings of the originals. Neither mix features Ratzinger's vocals, and both make subtler use of percussion, and places greater emphasis on the melodic and atmospheric possibilities of :Wumpscut:'s sound. Kirlian Camera adds some melancholy female vocals to the mix -- the singer is uncredited in the liner notes, but sounds suspiciously like Aleta Welling again.

The extended piece -- "Soylent Green" -- which opens the CD is this album's extreme manifestation of :Wumpscut:'s sound, and as such, the most successful -- by all means a great song. In the spirit of the Charlton Heston sci-fi film of the same title, Ratzinger yells "soylent green" incessantly and insistently throughout the song like a warning, while samples from an alleged earlier German version of the film accentuate the atmosphere of paranoia. A fast-paced, aggressive synth beat drives the song forward with strong synth string melodics adding volume and weight to the apocalyptic gloom of the song.

Music For A Slaughtering Tribe will certainly appeal to fans of the darker end of the musical spectrum, and make for great fare in those clubs dedicated to bodily injuries on their dance floors. For the less fanatic crowd, the CD still has a number of good tracks to offer, although on repeated listenings it will inevitably outstay its welcome.

If you are a fan of Front Line Assembly, Leatherstrip, or Haujobb, this intense cyberindustrialdanse music is right up your dangerous, unlit back-alley. If the first two tracks, "Soylent Green" and "On the Run" do not sound familiar to you, then it is time you visit your friendly local neighborhood industrial nightclub. (I know, for many of y'all, "local" and "industrial nightclub" are two things that don't mesh-hey, I've been there myself, and was it ever like being across the street from hell!)

Track 4, "Fear of Motion," is a change from the harsh and distorted male vocals. With the strong spoken words from a female voice, the fast-paced keyboards continue to jam-away. Track 10, "She's Dead, I Crushed Her Head" comes through is a sinister fashion.

Tv

I first read about :wumpscut: in a magazine advertisement for Metropolis Records and in the ad they sounded interesting, however I thought, that is suppose to be the intent of the add. Anyway I went on with my life and a few days later I found myself in the local record store so I decided to look :wumpscut: up and sure enough there it was. I was really in the mood to buy a CD so I decided to throw caution to the wind and I walked up to the register and paid for it. It was one of the best risks I have ever taken.

After listening to the first two tracks I was totally hooked. In fact the intro for the first song Soylent Green will totally hook you on your first listen. This album is the type of industrial that got me turned on to the whole industrial music scene in the first place. Rudy mildly distorts his vocals and uses a steady electrobeat with strong throbbing sequencer rhythms that you will find very addicting. His music is a perfect example of industrial angst and gothic emotionalism. Make sure you check out Rudy's other albums which are also reviewed right here in The New Empire. Happy Listening, table

Reviewed by Toxin of NewEmpire

Rating 5 of 6, Coolness 9

[USA reissue]

Almost 3 years after it's original release overseas, :wumpscut:'s Music For the Slaughtering Tribe is available at a domestic price. This reissue boasts new artwork and a few new mixes.

An extended mix of Soylent Green kicks off the album with a heavy EBM beat, snarling vocals, and brassy keyboard sounds. The Aghast View remix of Default is another exclusive track bolstering a slight Front Line Assembly sound with some remarkable rolling beats. The numerous tempo changes in Concrete Rage make it one of the most impressive tracks. She's Dead (remixed by Kirlian Camera) adds a lot to the original, including some uptempo key work and a muffled beat in the first half. After a brief break, the song picks up some speed and adds a snippet of break beat tribalism. Koslow is a noise treated track that could have easily been included on the Noisex release. The album finishes off with a hidden track (#17) which is a very short, vocally dependent song. There are a few songs that were omitted from the original release (Rotten Meat, The Day's Disdain, and Float), but considering the bonus mixes, that really neither here nor there. For those of you who haven't yet familiarized yourself with Rudy's work, this is a great place to start.

The domestic reissue of this first full length :wumpscut: album contains two additional remixes and is short three tracks from the original release on Vuz Records. I for one find it odd that Metropolis scrapped three tracks in favor of two new remixes which are not that far from the originals. Nonetheless it doesn't seem to detract from the overall power and vivacity of the debut :wumpscut: album. As for the music, I'm not sure that any of my words could begin to properly describe the ingenious and talent of the man behind :wumpscut:, Rudy Ratzinger. With this album he singularly reinvented the entire electro genre and smashed flat all that stood before him with the sheer power and intensity of the music. Needless to say I feel that this album marked the beginning of the European redominance of electronic Industrial music and set the standards for everyone else to follow. So now it is finally available domestically, the rest of world can truly begin to appreciate it's brilliance.

Pas mauvais, vraiment pas mauvais ce que nous propose Rudy sur son premier album. Bon d'accord, on peut tout de suite voir la recherche du son Wumpscut, le manque d'expérience peut-être et aussi le manque de production, mais les morceaux sont tout de même bons. Un son qui se rapproche du techno-industriel, parfois du gothisme, Rudy nous montrant ici l'étendue de ses capacités et les voies qu'il désirera prendre pour le futur. J'apprécie énormément les vocaux féminins qui hantent quelques pièces de l'album. Cependant Soylent Green est beaucoup trop longue et certaines autres pièces sonnent comme du techno en boucle utilisé à des fins de remplissage. En résumé, un album que tous les amateurs de musique industrielle un peu sombre apprécieront.

Stephan Gauthier

Wertung der Redaktion: 6/10

Wumpscut erreichte in den letzten Jahren eine unglaubliche Popularitaet. Die Fans zahlen Unmengen fuer Raritaeten und Rudi bringt innerhalb kuerzester Zeit immer wieder Alben auf den Markt. Das hat aber auch die Folge, dass nicht immer jeder Song ueberzeugen kann. Hierbei treten die Clubhits Soylent Green und Fear in Motion hervor, danach folgen die etwas schwaecheren On The Run, Bleed, Concret Rage und Koslow. Der Rest kann wohl unter den Tisch gekehrt werden. Folglich 2 gute und 4 mittlere Tracks und das von insgesamt 14 Nummern. Das macht ein insgesamt recht gut durchnittliches Album aus.

[Review Mensch]

So :W: has finally reached the US at normal prices! Music For A Slaughtering Tribe was the first :W: CD, originally released on VUZ Records, and from the time when Rudy was still very much showing the influence from his days of spinning the likes of yelworC and (of coarse) Leæther Strip. MFAST featured :W:'s early hits "Solyent Green" and "On The Run" that have since become club classics, in addition to collaborations with fellow Bavarian PAL on "Concrete Rage," and with American vocalist Aleta Welling on "Fear In Motion." But you've hard this all before; this is brilliant and harsh electro industrial that wears its influences proudly. What is new to the Metropolis release is the extra remixes (originally intended for MFAST II, I suppose). Aghast View give "Default" a complete overhaul into a mid paced Strip-esque piece, and Kirlian Camera remake "She's Dead" into a haunting track that moves subtly between trance and darkwave. Great stuff. If you don't have this already, you should be ashamed.

by Jonny EOL
EOL Rating: 7/10

The first :Wumpscut: album has been released in many different versions over the years, although the core content remains the same (even if they keep reshuffling the track order). No matter which version of the album you get, the distinctive tone of Rudy Ratzinger’s sonic palette is clear from the outset, and it ain’t exactly pleasant. Just over half of the album is given over to unremitingly harsh industrial dance, borrowing heavily from the likes of LeætherStrip, Skinny Puppy and, it’s most heavily distorted moments, The Klinik.

The tell-tale keyboard stabs of ‘Soylent Green’ identify the albums obvious stand-out track, although the spoken-word Aleta Welling vocal on ‘Fear In Motion’ and the synapse-crushing PAL sample that forms the basis of ‘Concrete Rage’ prevent the remainder of the album from becoming mere second-rate imitations of the lead song. There are also a number of more subtle, darkambient style tracks, laden with morbid keyboard textures and a slight neo-classical feel. There are a few tracks (of both kinds), that really don’t achieve much, either hammering or droning away without any apparent direction, but such indulgences can be forgiven on a debut album such as this.

NOTE: Most current versions of the album feature a remix disc ‘Music For A Slaughtering Tribe II’. It includes a couple of remixes each by ‘Haujobb’ (doing his usual technofication) and Brain Lesuire, plus an interesting take on ‘She’s Dead’ by Kirlian Camera (adding a darkwave beat where none previously existed) and a few other mixes. It’s around the usual standard for bonus remix albums - an interesting curosity, but scarcely likely to upstage the main album.

After many years of DJ-ing Bavaria's industrial/ goth club scene and several limited edition tape-only albums, Rudy Ratzinger's official album debut was a hard punch in the face of the stale, increasingly guitar-driven industrial scene. Ratzinger created some of the most hard-hitting music to date without using any guitars. In fact, with deathmetal/blackmetal pretty much reaching its saturation point in the mid nineties, Wumpscut arguably took extreme music to a whole new level. Favouring pounding electronic rhythms and psychotic, haunting melodies over the high speed approach of the metal scene, MFAST created an atmosphere much more intense and menacing.

Sonically, the album was one of the first to blend the experimental structuring of classic industrial greats like Esplendor Geometrico and Skinny Puppy with less controlled power-noise outbursts in the vein of Merzbow's later work. Several other unusual influences, like distorted hip-hop grooves and the use of very proper song structures, make this album quite an unusual one indeed. It must be said, though, that the album does suffer somewhat from the "apocalyptic fairyland"-style lyrics, as Ratzinger puts it, in the sense that they come across as being somewhat adolescent horror fantasies. But, in honesty, this album is not about the lyrics. Wumpscut continued to be ground-breaking later in the 1990's by being one of the frontrunners of the Darkwave scene but in the process some of the rawness was lost.

Although Ratzinger is and always has been Wumpscut all by himself, several guests appear on the record. On the excellent track "Fear in motion" we can hear Aleta Welling on lead vocals, whilst Ratzinger does most of the singing on all the other tracks. Aghast View and Kirlian Camera provide interesting remixes.

The record was released on Ratzinger's own Beton Kopf Media label. For this reason perhaps, there wasn't a lot of consistency between the different pressings of the record. That is, Ratzinger couldn't resist the temptation to make small changes on each pressing of the album. This is a mixed blessing. It is nice that there are many different tracks around, but for the listener it is annoying to have to buy all versions of the album to get all tracks. Further, different versions were released on different labels as well. Below is a complete coverage.

Music For A Slaughtering Tribe

Label: Beton Kopf Media/VUZ
Release date: December 20, 1993
Two versions exist: the BKM release has a brown paper cover with two working men on it and the VUZ release has a human skull photographed from below.

Label: Beton Kopf Media/Metropolis (American release)
Release date: January 1, 1997
Cover: A human skull photographed from the front (as opposed to below on the first release)

Music For A Slaughtering Tribe II

This version, released very shortly after the 1997 re-release, is identical to the original release but has an extra remix disc.

Label: Beton Kopf Media Release date: February 2, 1997

Last, a Music for a German tribe was also released. It has German versions of many popular Wumpscut tracks, not only of this album. This was done because the American audiences liked the German tracks more than the English ones.