Review 1

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

Review 2

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 Egoist

Embryodeadbox

Disc 1 -- Embryodead
After what seemed like an eternity, Rudy has unleashed Embryodead into the waiting arms of many a fan. The wait was definitely worth it. So many rumors had been kicking around about how the sound was going to change radically, but when I popped this disc into the player, out flowed the staple sound of :wumpscut:. Granted, Embryodead is the cleanest recording to date by Rudy and one can easily tell that he spent a lot of time on the production (not to mention the box design and concept.) The music and lyrics behind Embryodead are extremely dark. The first ½ of the CD contains the more aggressive music, whereas the music on the second ½ slows down in pace, but retains all the dark elements. Golgotha, which deals with the crucifixion of Christ, is an hostile sounding piece with a ragged rhythm line full of distorted beats, dense synth patterns, and rasping vocals. The title track uses more accessible sequences, but sticks with the quick, gnarled beats and throaty vocals. The symphonic beginning of Down Where We Belong quickly melds into the background, behind Rudy’s razor-like vocals and the twisted percussion. Slave to Evil contains elements of noisy industrial (alá Suicide Commando and Dive) as well as strict EBM portions which make it a nice warped, yet danceable track. The noise factor continues throughout War; a dark apocalyptic piece with scratchy electronics and a pulsating rhythm. Is It You begins the less abusive part of the CD. This track is where the beats begin to slow down and Rudy’s vocal delivery begins to loosen up. Wind-like sequences separate the chorus’ from the stanzas. It is on tracks like this one that I can clearly see the comparison to some of Claus’ Leæther Strip material. On Pest, Rudy’s manipulates his vocals into some warped, demonic style that is convincingly eerie. Rudy continues to manipulate his voice on Womb. In this piece, he takes on the voice of an unborn child who realizes his situation and, with a childish, yet ghostly vocal delivery attempts to rationalize with his mother. Being that the two halves of this disc are very different, Rudy manages not to pigeonhole his style, making Embryodead a remarkable recording that is dark, diverse and addicting.

Disc 2 -- Music For a German Tribe
Music For A German Tribe is 8 tracks of older :wumpscut: tracks that have been re-recorded entirely in German. The 8 tracks are: 1) Sonlent Grün, 2) Schmarzer Tod, 3) Sag Warum, 4) Berflucht Bis Thr Berhungert, 5) In Der Nacht, 6) Kreig, 7) Strib Im Winter, and 8) Schaltet Den Schmerz 2lb. While, aside from the lyrics, these tracks are nothing new, they still make a nice companion disc to the Embryodead CD. I suppose, unless you speak German, this disc acts more like a collector’s item than anything else. The songs are good to listen to once or twice, but they’re nothing to get too excited over, especially considering they are competing against the fabulous Embryodead CD for time in my CD player.

The packaging of these two CDs is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Surrounded by a 5 pound metal casing, the pair of CDs are placed nicely inside of a black, full sized, corrugated folder, which also contains a booklet full of creepy artwork as well as the lyrics for all the songs on both CDs. Also included in the box is a Embryodead poster, a metal pin (not unlike the FLA pin in the Live Wired box), various stickers, a patch, and a T-shirt. The T-shirt is olive green and lists Rudy’s ‘Virtual Tour’ dates on the back. All and all this box set is well worth the price, even as an import. Although the likelihood of finding on now is slim, I urge anyone who has an opportunity to pick one up to do so immediately.

:WUMPSCUT: "Embryodead" (Metropolis Records) SCORE: 79/100

Many of you know most industrial bands, especially overseas ones, as overtly dark and harsh, but lately there's been this small trend for bands of this genre to embrace feelings and emotions. Which is a fitting description for this, my first exposure to a band I've only heard about for years. And what they have been saying is true, that this band can craft the heaviness and darkness and envelop it with some real heartfelt emotion be it sadness and despair, concern or just pure aggression! The two best tracks on here that showcase what I speak of the best are 'Down Where We Belong' and 'Is It You,' which show the slightly distorted vocals having some real range and emotion rather than just being ultra low and one dimensional, plus these two songs in particular have some GREAT chorus lines you'll catch yourself singing many times as I have. The beats are ultra distorted too, and like on 'War' and 'Golgotha' they are REALLY in your face, and quite a few tracks would make good club pieces. On the downside however, 'Womb' really annoyed me with that child like voice, however credit has to be given for the lyrics which look at an unborn child's perspective and gives him/her a voice, which really hits home and makes you think. 'Angel' and 'Stillbirth' play around with less or no beats and trying to go more emotional than usual, and don't really work as well. Their lyrics are really insightful however, and those of you into harsh electronics and screaming vocals will get a kick out of 'War.' I'll leave you with the quote from the liner sleeve, which should sum up what the theme of this album is all about: "Embryodead is dedicated to all foetus acting wisely enough to die in their mother's womb before they could be thrown into this cruel world full of hate. May they never know how hard it is to live without any reason, without any sense."

:wumpscut: is Rudy Ratzinger's one-man project. He has his own studio and records company. Beside some additional engineering, he does everything alone. Considering these capabilities, I can say that he is a very accomplished artist.

His last release, Embryodead, is the darkest you can get in the industrial music (for me...). From the beginning to the end, there is a feeling of profound despair: ''Embryodead is dedicated to all foetus acting wisely enough to die in their mother's womb before they could be thrown into this cruel world full of blind hate. May they never knoe how hard it is to live without any reason, without any sense (...)'' With this kind of dedication, you can imagine how depressing the album can be.

Musically, the songs are quite original. The melodies are well developed, although there is a repetition in the use of some sounds. Tracks like Golgotha , Is it you and Angel represent Ratzinger's creativity at is best. The lyrics are quite good, even if it talks about the uselessness of life during fifty minutes.

Technically, Embryodead is perfect, there is no mistakes. Each sounds, effects and melodies are produced with enormous exactitude.

So, if you think that life is useless, this album is for you.

Jode's Grade: 7.5

Metropolis Records - licensed from Beton Kopf Media, MET 053

Review by Jode @ Electroage

:wumpscut: have (or has - :wumpscut: is one person, Rudy Razinger) in recent years become one of the most important acts in the Euro-industrial/EBM sphere, right up there with the likes of Haujobb and Leæther Strip. However, while Haujobb over time gradually drifted away from an EBM sound, and eventually jumped ship for the electronica bandwagon, :wumpscut: have relentlessly followed a purist course, producing consistently harsh, dark, pounding electronic music.

Embryodead continues this trend. While it's easy to criticize :wumpscut: for stagnation - there's been little musical development since roughly the time of the Gomorra EP, you can help but feel that perhaps this is a case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Rudy's music remains some of the harshest EBM there is, it's well-crafted, and it's good stuff. :wumpscut: also retain an ability to provoke in their imagery, largely courtesy of the decidedly dark artwork that adorns all :wumpscut: releases. While so many other bands are railing against state oppression, organized religion, or whatever, :wumpscut: toy with a darker vision, with some pretty horrific covers that suggest the sort of thing Bosch might produce after a tour of Auschwitz. Surprisingly, Embryodead has a very subdued cover, with only the band's name, a large 'E' and a stylized cross. The inside of the booklet is another matter, with the artwork fitting in nicely with what seems to be the album's theme. That theme is, not to put too fine a point on it, dead babies. Or, specifically, those who die in the womb. It's by no means common to all the tracks on the album, but with track titles like "Embryodead", "Womb" and "Stillbirth", you know what to expect. The message contained in at least two of these isn't the one you'd expect - only "Womb" seems to edge into the touchy subject of abortion. The other two offer a slightly less controversial, although decidedly nihilistic, viewpoint. That those who die in the womb are lucky, because the world isn't really a very nice place, and they've been spared it all. Yep, suffice it to say that Embryodead has another thing in common with its predecessors - a bundle of laughs it is not.

The album kicks off with "Golgotha", a piece of classic :wumpscut: with all of the familiar ingredients. There's nice synthwork, some wonderfully brutal percussion, distorted vocals, lyrics that'll doubtless offend those of a religious bent (take "Christ, you are a lunatic" for starters), with the occasional quiet and mournful bit. After the mood has been set by "Golgotha" we head straight into "Embryodead". This is...well, it's more of the same, really. The synths are solid as ever, the lyrics are unremittingly dark and gloomy, the percussion pounds and thunders away. Oh, and there's weird German samples too, what more could you ask for? How about "Down Where We Belong", a cheerful little ditty of the "abandon all hope, you're utterly insignificant" variety. The track after that, "Slave To Evil" is much the same. "War" stirs a little variety into the mix. Yes, it's dark, yes it's synthetic, yes it's got depressing lyrics but a) the rhythm track shows more variety, and b) it's about the horrors of war specifically, rather than the horrors of life in general.

Just when you're beginning to think "Rudy, lighten up a little!" along comes"Is It You?" This isn't as relentless, in fact it's rather pretty in places, with a very nice chorus indeed. "Thorns" it isn't, but it's probably the best track on the album. Of course, the lyrics are all about hopes dashed and smashed into tiny little pieces, the corpse of a loved one being dragged across barbed hooks, and so forth. The intro to "Pest" reminds me for some reason of an old Genesis track. Needless to say, the resemblance ends about there, unless you consider Phil Collins to be akin to pestilence, a viewpoint that's not so far-fetched. It's slower than most of the other material here, but it's got the usual collection of :wumpscut: characteristics, both bad (song after song about the futility of pretty much everything wears after a while) and good (gorgeous synth work).

Then there's "Womb". Um. Well, the lyrics are pretty obvious, as the unwanted foetus taunts the mother-to-be about how it's going to ruin her life, how she's going to have to care for it for the rest of her miserable days, etc. However, Rudy's decided to get into character here, and the vocal treatments reflect this. Yep, he's pitch-shifted his voice up for that "evil baby" sound. Unfortunately, it's both intensely annoying after a while and, it has to be said, it sounds so downright silly in places, like a Satanic Smurf, that it's difficult to take the song at all seriously.

"Angel" is something unexpected - it's pretty close to being a love song (and probably is, it's dedicated to Sandra, whoever she is). Of course, this being :wumpscut:, while the music is very nice, the lyrics can't quite leave the death'n'destruction motif behind, so we end up with "I could clip your wings to catch all your love ... this would be so wrong, you would bleed to death immediately". Um, yeah. The final track, "Stillbirth", continues in the same darkly reflective mood. The vocals are minimally distorted, and the electronics are darkly atmospheric, with a repetitive electronic pulse that suggests hospital equipment. As a hint of a heartbeat fades and dies, the electronics rise to a painful crescendo, before the song dies away to the sound of a music box playing a nursery rhyme. Rudy really hits the mark with this one - it lacks the lyrical clumsiness of "Angel", and the musical box winding down at the end over the bleak, empty electronics is very effective indeed. Given the recurring "dead baby" motif that appears throughout this album, and the highly emotional content of this particular track, I have to wonder if the material on this album somehow reflected events in Rudy's own life.

Overall, Embryodead is a worthy successor to Bunkertor 7. It doesn't exactly push the envelope, preferring instead to stay in familiar musical territory, but it does this with a great deal of style. If you liked Bunkertor 7, you'll like this. If Bunkertor 7 was too harsh or depressing for you, Embryodead probably isn't for you though. If you've never heard any :wumpscut: before, this one vies with its predecessor as the best place to start. Just make sure you've locked all sharp instruments/bottles of potentially lethal pills away first.

August 30th 1997
Rating +2 (scale: -5 to +5)

Rating: 5

Rudy Ratzinger has proven to be one of the most incredible EMB artists operating at the present time, but I must admit, the first time that I listened to Embryodead, I was a bit disappointed. But that didn't last too long. The more I listened to this album, the more I was impressed. I am big on intensity, and even though this album is not as abrasive or harsh as his previous material, the intensity factor is still just as high. The album opens up with the incredibly dancable "Golgotha", then moves on to the title track, which totally blew me away. The album continues down it's dark path with excellent tracks like "Slave to Evil", "War", "Is it You", "Pest", and "Womb". This album is a must have.

Ross

Not a very up-to-date-review but a review that has to be found on a page like The New Empire - the album of :Wumpscut:. Embryodead contains 10 typical songs.

Noise mixes up with melody. Not every song comes with brutal force, there are some moments of rest: the song "Angel" for example. Hits like "Embryodead" and "Slave to evil" have been played in the clubs throughout whole Germany now.

The CD itself comes in a black box and the cover-booklet contains images done by J.E.Wagner which show suffering unborn life, related to the titel and theme of the record. There is no project like :Wumpscut" that knows how to raise an atmosphere of decay and the Apocalypse within the music and Embryodead is again an album which shows Rudy Ratzinger in his best form.

I am waiting for his new album, Böses junges Fleisch, which will be released next year.

Reviewed by Toxin of NewEmpire

Rating 4 of 6, Coolness 8

Review 1

C'est l'histoire d'un gars qui s'en va s'acheter Embryodead et qui, en revenant chez lui, met le volume au bout et reste estomaqué. Ce gars là, c'est moi il y a un an de ça. Et voilà, un an plus tard j'en fais le review de ce disque qui compte parmis mes favoris de l'industriel, et ça n'a pas changé. À première vue, ça sonne évidemment comme un album produit, très produit. Les morceaux s'enchaînent très bien, trop bien, on sent que Rudy veut absolument qu'on soit du voyage avec lui, les options sont grandes, variées, invitantes. Impossible de ne pas accrocher, les minutes se succèdent dans un mur de musique electro harsh appuyé par la voix très convaincante de Rudy Ratzinger. Même si parfois le ton de l'album devient très violent ou très doux, le disque demeure rageux, industriel et très Wumspcut en général. Rudy a maintenant trouvé un son bien à lui, et c'est avec grande joie que je me remémore pour la 2000 fois les Golgotha, War, Embryodead et Stillbirth. Tous les morceaux sont excellents sauf un, qui vient entâcher la perfection de ce disque... Il s'agit de l'intolérable Womb, une pièce ridicule où Rudy troque sa voix pour celle d'un foetus biscornu qui harcèle sa maman dans son utérus tout chaud. Insupportable, mais pour tout le reste, c'est un a+.

Stephan Gauthier

Review 2

Nouvelle ponte de notre très cher :Wumpscut:, et comme à son habitude Rudy ne défigure pas son nouveau-né. Il réussit bel et bien à nous intégrer complètement dans l'univers qu'il a si bien su raffiner. Un concept qui allie parfaitement l'esthétique et l'auditif, en assimilant formidablement la même atmosphère sonore et graphique très sombre, recréant la vie mouvementée d'un embryon. La rage se retrouve au commencement du compact, avec les cinq premières plages, profondément destructrices, qui combinent fantastiquement bruit et accessibilité. Rythmée de façon démesurée, la fabuleuse pièce "War" nous transporte dans une suite trop bien envoyée vers les airs harmonieux de "Is It You". Une suite logique qui est inimaginable autrement que de la manière dont elle est présentée ici. Question production, :W: ne laisse pas sa place, au point de ne pouvoir faire mieux, la qualité sonore étant incomparable. Il y a une malformation que je dois spécifier et qui m'est très harrassante, il s'agit de "Womb", une pièce musicalement peu dérangeante, mais lorsque la voix s'ajoute au tout, cela produit un effet très désagréable. C'est, par contre, très peu de reproches comparativement à la qualité des autres plages. Un petit bijou gracieuseté de Rudy Ratzinger.

Guillaume Gravel-Pilote

Alles stürzt sich auf die limitierte Metall-Box von E+ (ich auch) mit diversen Extras und vieles spricht dafür, daß Rudi R. seinem Erfolg mit Bunkertor 7 noch eins draufsetzen kann. Ohne Zweifel werden die Clubs voll auf den neuen :W:-Güterzug springen. Was bietet das gute Stück aber wirklich? Musikalisch hat wohl niemand einen herben Stilbruch erwartet und so ist in dieser Beziehung auch keine sonderliche Überraschung eingetreten. Einige langsamere, schwebende Momente sorgen für etwas Abwechslung. Ansonsten aber kommt verbreitet der übliche Haudrauf-Finster-EBM vor. Sicherlich wird das Titelstück die einschlägigen Tanzflächen beherrschen. Wie "Slave to evil" ist es aber reichlich aufdringlich und es gibt einen dicken Punktabzug für die ewig gleich öde 08/15-Stimmenentstellung. Die 'poppigen' "Golgotha" und "Down where we belong" können gut gefallen. Nervig - ob der albernen Oskar-Stimme - ist "Womb" und mit dem Rührstück "Angel" wird endlich jedem klar: Rudi hat jetzt ne Fro-heundin. Nur für die, die es noch nicht gewußt haben sollten. Was bleibt unterm Strich? Sicherlich kein schlechtes Album, das allerdings wenig Neues bietet, aber einige markante Melodien besitzt. Nicht der Brüller, aber noch ist der Wump-Trend nicht vorüber.

4 / 7

:wumpscut: is the solo project of Germany¹s Rudy Ratzinger. Embyrodead is a collection of his newest music, which is awe inspiring. There is a majestic quality to :wumpscut: that shreds through every possible emotion, leaving the listener in disbelief at what they have just heard. Synthetic body music, created in only the darkest of traditions, mixing images of bleakness and seclusion with pulsating industrialism, to produce a future underground dance classic. :wumpscut: is future now.

Review by Larry Dean Miles

Third full length album from one of the scenes hottest properties at the moment. After re-releasing, remastering and remixing Rudy is finally back with some new material. This is somewhat of a concept album on the life is futile kinda topic. The album is dedicated to all foetus' who act wisely enough die in the womb, so most of the material deals with the mainy issues involved with childbirth, abortion and parenthood, but here is a love song offering hope for all you lovers out there tonight.

The lyrics have been printed in FULL this time and are some of his most accomplished! More emphasis seems to have been placed on the English language rather than his native German, whether this was necessary to accommodate the growing international following is debatable. Music sang with conviction in any language can still provide enjoyment. But then again :w: haven't been afraid to release alternate versions in different languages.

This is the same old :wumpscut: formula, being chock full of gothy orchestral atmospherics, grating electro and heavy almost military distorted dance beats. Even more (incredible, but true!) depressing and emotionally oppressive than previous releases. The best tracks being "Embryodead", "Down Where We Belong", "Angel" and "Stillbirth". The strangest track by far being "Womb" a fairly disturbing diatribe from a nasty foetus inside the womb unbeknownst to its host who extols the miserableness of parenthood which it is about to inflict.

Not as immediately enjoyable as "Bunkertor 7", but with many strong songs. Aggression is not quite as much the order of the day and the record feels fairly somber in tone, whilst still highly evocative of Eastern Europe. As usual the packaging has received a fair amount of thought as has the music and lyrical content, being both thought provoking and musically worthy. Luckily this release is totally independent and the artists vision may be thoroughly envisioned and not diluted by corporate and marketing restrictions and is all the better for it!
(Al)

Once again :wumpscut: takes us on a musical journey of which we can never get enough. This time around, Rudy has chosen to release a tight collection of tracks that all revolve around a common theme under the name "Embryodead". As far as concept albums go, the focus of the album tends to wander a little bit, but the message is very clearly focused on all events that could quite possibly occur during the conception, birth, and maturation of a child into an adult. Of course, this wouldn't be Industrial music without bringing out all of the negative events of childhood, so that is what Rudy attempts to do throughout the entire album. He skillfully attacks such controversial aspects as slavery, abortion, and religion without trying to preach the correct solution to any of the social issues mentioned.

Musically, "Embryodead" is the densest :wumpscut: release to date. Each of the core compositonal elements from the basslines and strings, to the percussion and vocals are tightly woven together into a compact arrangement that eventually becomes a :wumpscut: track. Rudy also surprises us with the use of more string patches than ever before right alongside the rest of his standard instrumentation. As a result "Embryodead" has a much more polished and smooth feel to it. However, you can rest assured that the music is not so radically different as to disinterest longtime :wumpscut: fans, but rather simply a new stage in the evolution of this amazing German solo project.

Von vielen sehnsuchtsvoll erwartet, ist sie nun da - die neue Wumpscut, genannt "Embryodead". Und wer Nachschub für die Tanzfläche à la "Soylent Green" oder "Capital Punishment" erwartet hat, wird auch diesmal nicht enttäuscht. Wieder einmal hat es Rudi geschafft, all seinen Fans genau das zu bieten, was sie haben wollen: niemals eintönigen Brachialelectro mit eingängigen Melodien. Neu ist, daß Rudi auf seinem neuesten Werk auch einmal ruhigere Töne anschlägt - eine Veränderung, die nach seiner eigenen Meinung durch die Beziehung zu seiner Freundin ausgelöst wurde. Alles in allem also wieder einmal das Highlight der Saison. P.S.: Die auf 2525 St. limitierte Metallbox, die außer der Embryodead die deutsche Version des "Music For A Slaughtering Tribe"-Albums sowie jede Menge Gimmicks enthält, ist mittlerweile auch erschienen - also schnell zu eurem Händler, damit ihr noch ein Exemplar ergattert.

Copyright by SONIC SEDUCER und Jan

:wumpscut: is one of the best industrial bands on the market. I have never been disappointed, lack-luster, or even slightly indecisive. Embroydead is an industrial epic that is sure to pull all gothic and industrial crowds together into a surreal unification on dance floors world wide. It's only a matter of how many have heard the music before, as no one wants to be the lone dancer on the floor. "Down Where We Belong" and "Is It You" make my heart go pitter-patter. This is the darkest release to date, having been dedicated "to all fetus acting wisely enough to die in their mother's womb before they could be thrown into this cruel world full of blind hate." Don't be scared, I promise every track will stimulate and energize your life. Metropolis Records, P.O. Box 54307, Philadelphia, PA 19105; http://www.metropolis-records.com

--Drew West

Rate :10

made in 1997, one of rudy's BEST album's :)

this album is very intense.. and disturbing for those who simply cannot handle listening to such music.

It has mainly english vocals.. however some german runs into it. Rudy expresses his philosophy more then ever on christ and humanity in such haunting beauty.. Though someone would probably take a trip to their shrink if they ever got in Rudy's mind.. everyone should know he is just grounded to earth as it is. In person he is very calm and connected.. though if you wish to connect with him.. it is best to be done through his work.

He still doesn't do live shows to this date.. for 2 reasons I gather..

1) it would probably scare the locals
2) his work is so distorted and carefully executed.. it would be extremely difficult to preform it without having to pull off a hillary duff or britany spears.

Before I get to the tracklist.. i read an interview with Rudy a while back.. apparently he was accused of a murder. The normal story.. boy listen to music.. boy kill boy. Rudy's attitude I found was hallarious but obvious when he replied that it couldn't of been his music that was the cause.. for he only killed one person.. wumpscut's all about going after the masses. It's histarical because of the context.. but also meaningful because people have got to learn how to take in his music.. its not just one big slaughter fest, its an insight thats not to be taken lightly.

Now for the tracklist :)

1. Golgotha

good intro.. very hard paced like his previous and later intros. Brings you right into the scene.

2. Embryodead

nope! you don't have to wait for several tracks to get to this gem! This is one of my favorite songs out of all of Rudy's work. It has so many distortions and such careful lyrics. A very creepy german verse starts us off after the harsh beats.. then moves onto rudy's beloved screaming "your in a mess 'cause this is the end" "but that is a fallacy because this is your grave". LISTEN TO IT (visit the link for samples)

3. Down Where We Belong

a rebelious song for sure.. very harsh and fast-paced vocal work :)

4. Slave to Evil

defintely hard hitting.. 'shut up and listen' style.. Rudy growls at you here "there was a time i thought" and speaks of how evil is coming over..

5. War

a gem here.. this song has a stomping beat that you could march to. My favorite bit would be at the end when you hear rudy scream "WARRRRRR".. it is beyond impressive.

6. Is It You

is it you? a very haunting.. slower song then what you've just heard so far. The vocals are not as distorted here.. Sends chills down your spine.

7. Pest

a repeating beat.. the vocals are not exactly melodelic... nor do they follow much of a pattern. Heavy distortions with low pitches.. slow-paced, everything you'd expect.

8. Womb

ok take this song and play it to anyone who hasn't heard wumpscut.. it will either make them nod slowly then back off or drive them in. Rudy decides to go UP with his vocal pitch and bring a child-like voice into play.. Well the album is embryodead.. i'd say this song is the best representative for that title. The songs speaks of a selfish child waitng in a womb.. saying that he will be with you, you cannot kill him off.. "i never wanted you to cry about me, but i do exist, and YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE ABOUT THAT, FOR THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE DAYS"

9. Angel

slow.. its rudy actually singing with harmony. So lovely to hear.. he sings to his beloved angel with desperation.

10. Stillbirth

the end song.. probably the most chilling track on the album with again a slower pace.. It is a lot of :w: fans favorite. Very compelling.

Reviewed by Talek on April 26, 2005

by Jonny EOL
EOL Rating: 8.5/10

An album dedicated to “stillborn foetus wise enough to die in their mothers womb”, no less. Despite any recommendations I may give, this album nonetheless needs to be accompanied by a health warning, as this is the most depressing, most harrowing, god-awful slice of misery from the Ratzinger camp to date. The gloom starts steadily with ‘Golgotha’, the story of the Crucifixion told with the oppressive beats and funereal keyboard combo that Rudy does so well, before things step up a gear for ‘Embryodead’, one of the most violent, inhumane tracks I’ve ever had the misfortune to hear, a direct attack against the futility of human life itself.

As the album draws on, we get the usual mix of harsh industrial dance and dark electronics, with the highlights being the eardrum-splitting ‘War’ (possibly the most intense :W: track to date?) and the creeping doom of ‘Is It You?’, conjuring horror-movie style imagery to chilling effect. Other tracks of note include ‘Womb’, a sickening ‘voice from the womb’ bringing a whole new viewpoint to the abortion debate, and of course ‘Angel’, a delicate number, the soaring strings and subtle motif offering the albums one moment of redemption. The rest is unremittingly dissonant - yet it still dovetails together well, moreso than any previous :Wumpscut: album, and the few weak tracks (’Pest’ is the only really pointless one) don’t interuppt the flow. Recommending to anyone who, having read this, think they can still stomach it. Expectant mothers need not apply…..

Bewertung: 10 von 10 Punkten

Aus Anlass der im Sommer erschienenden Neuauflage des wohl besten :Wumpscut: Albums aller Zeiten, möchte ich es mir an dieser Stelle nicht nehmen lassen, ein paar Worte über dieses apokalyptische und bis zur endgültigen Konsequenz gehende Album namens “Embryodead“ zu verlieren.

Im Jahre 1997 erschien ziemlich genau zwei Jahre nach dem viel und heiß diskutierten Album “Bunkertor 7“, jener verheißungsvolle Output mit dem nicht minder provokanten Titel (und passenden Artwork) “Embryodead“. Hier sollte sich erstmals die bis zum pedantischen und äußerstem neigende Morbidität und schonungsloser Konsequenz des Soundtüftlers Rudy Ratzinger in Vollendung zeigen: “Embryodead“ ist bis heute wohl das textlich nihilistischste und musikalisch härteste Industrial Album des in Landshut ansässigen Masterminds.

Jene 10 Tracks des Albums gliedern sich in jeweils unterschiedliche Epochen und Perspektiven (mal aus jener Egoperspektive und mal aus der des schaulustigen Voyeurs). Letztlich wird es aber in der letzten Konsequenz immer so bleiben, dass der Mensch nur noch als ein „Etwas“ definiert wird. Egal in welcher Zeit und in welcher Epoche: Der Mensch ist und war lediglich nur das Trugbild seiner Selbst, das schon immer dazu bestimmt war, das Leid über andere zu bringen um sich dann letztendlich selbst den erlösenden „Gnadenschuss“ zu geben.

Titelgebender Track “Embryodead“ ist ein rasanter und elektronisch hart treibender Bastard, der unterstützt wird von Ratzingers zwischen deutsch und englisch wechselnden und wutentbrannten Gesangseinlagen. Brachial und deutlich wird hier zur Sprache gebracht, was vielleicht nicht wenige denken mögen: Hat sich jener Embryo im Mutterleib nicht selbst den größten Gefallen damit getan, dass er vorzeitig von dieser Welt aus Schmerz, Krieg und Sinnlosigkeit wieder vorzeitig entschwunden ist?

Sollte dem aber nicht der Fall sein und der Embryo nistet sich auch weiterhin im Leibe der Mutter ein... Was würde er wohl von sich geben und denken? Die Antwort hierauf erhalten wir im morbiden und alptraumhaften “Womb“. Praktisch aus dem Mutterleib heraus vernehmen wir eine verzerrte „Kinderstimme“, die lediglich nur noch Verwünschungen, Hass und Ablehnung für jene Welt außerhalb des Mutterleibes empfindet und bereits schon dort auf Rache sinnt. Für seine Zeugung von zwei sich im Grunde eh hassenden Menschen.

Jene letzte Perspektive und Konsequenz des ungewollten und gehassten Embryos, ist die des “Stillbirth“. Eine im Gegensatz zu den beiden eben genannten Songs sehr ruhige, düstere und atmosphärische Nummer, die aber dennoch alles andere versöhnlicher anmutet. Eher das Gegenteil ist hier wieder der Fall: Der ungewollte und ungeliebte Fötus fand letztendlich durch die Hände seiner eigenen Mutter den Weg in Tod: In einer einsamen und kalten Nacht. Begleitet von den letzten Klängen der Spieluhr des Kindes.

“Down where we belong“ ist eine recht Synthesizer-lastig und schnelle Dark Elektro Nummer geworden, in welcher es um das Thema Klassenunterschiede geht: Entweder du bist ganz oben und frönst der verachtenswerten Dekadenz, oder du verkümmerst ganz unten im kalten Dreck. Ein „Dazwischen“ gibt es nicht!

Die logische Konsequenz hieraus entwickelt sich in Form von Hass, Zorn und Ohnmachtsgefühlen auf die eigene Existenz- und Sinnlosigkeit und der fehlender Liebe: “Slave to evil“ ist ein ziemlich schranziges und ungemütliches Stück Musik und Lebensgeschichte, wenn einem der eigenen Ansicht nach nichts anderes mehr bleibt als die pure Wut und Zerstörung.

Letztendlich bleibt nur das Anstauen von unterdrückten Gefühlen und Scherzen. Bis es zum finalen und alles vernichtenden Krieg kommt: “War“, ist nicht nur das musikalisch härteste und zornigste, sondern auch das konsequenzloseste Lied dieses Albums: Tod, Schmerz und Zerstörung gehen einher mit dem Versagen der eigenen Existenz und der gesamten Menschheit. Zurück bleiben lediglich die schreienden Mütter, die um ihre toten Kinder weinen... Und sogleich als „Vergeltung und Racheakt“ um einen neuen Krieg wimmern und lauthals krakeelen! Der Kreis beginnt sich nun mehr langsam zu schließen...

Aber das die Menschheit schon immer ihre Hände ins reine waschen wollte, nur um selber nicht geahndet zu werden, kennen wir bereits aus dem neuen Testament. Genauer gesagt: Als Pilatus Jesus, den Sohn Gottes, ans Kreuze schlagen ließ um bei seinem Volk nicht in Ungnade zu fallen. “Golgotha“ war nicht nur der berüchtigte Berg, den Jesus als seinen Kreuzweg beschreiten musste, sondern ist auch der Opener dieses Meisterwerkes: Ein melodischer und verzweifelter Aufschrei Ratzingers in der Form des Beobachters und Zeitzeugen. Musikalisch relativ zurückhaltenden, aber dennoch relativ atmosphärisch peitschend und treibend (besonders im eindringlichen und durch Mark und Beinen dringenden Refrain), stellt “Golgotha“ den inhaltlichen „Anfang allen Übels“ dar.

Fast schon wie ein erlösender Schlag ins Gesicht, wirkt nach all dem Leid und Schmerz die sehr sensible und elektronisch minimalistisch gehaltene Ballade “Angel“. Jener Engel ist sozusagen der letzte, helle Lichtstrahl am durch Tod und Leid verdunkelten Firmament... Eine wunderschöne, kraftvolle und emotionale Elektro-Ballade, wie man sie Rudy Ratzinger wohl niemals zugetraut hätte: Ein musikalischer Traum, der einen wenigstens für ein paar Augenblicke aus dieser quälenden Welt ausbrechen lässt.

Ohne Übertreibung ist “Embryodead“ als DAS musikalische Meisterwerk aus dem Hause :Wumpscut: anzusehen: Niemals mehr schaffte es Rudy Ratzinger so perfekt bis zur letzten und äußersten Konsequenz zu schreiten. “Embryodead“ ist böse, schmerzhaft und ein grotesk-dekadentes Abziehbild unserer Welt und Gesellschaftsordnung: Nihilistisch und gnadenlos, ohne jegliche Aussicht auf Erlösung (zumindest nicht in diesem Leben)…

Als kleinen Bonus befinden sich noch vier zusätzliche Stücke auf dieser Neuveröffentlichung: Insgesamt vier rein instrumentale Tracks, die man auf diesem Album bereits schon als Original-Version kennenlernen durfte (jene Laufzeiten fließen NICHT in die Gesamtspielzeit des Albums mit ein).

by asterphage

Embroydead, an album by Wumpscut was first released in Germany in early 1997 on Rudy Ratzinger's label, Beton Kopf media, and was released by Metropolis records in the U.S. later that year, along with almost all of Wumpscut's prior albums. It's abbreviated as "E†" several times within the album's liner notes.

Embryodead is something of a concept album, although if there is one uniting theme to the album, it is despair. It opens grimly enough, with a song about Christ's crucifixion, bringing up the idea that even He was destined for painful death, and moves right on into the song that outright describes the message of the album: "Don't attempt to exist in this world full of hate." It's better to not be born, or to die right away, than to have to experience all the pain that all people must in their life, Rudy tells us. Why? Because we're doomed, we're controlled by some malevolent God or devil, and it's everyone's destiny to lose what they love and then their own life. It's certainly a bleak outlook, and Rudy only knows if he even believed it when he wrote these songs - I certainly can't agree with it. Maybe he did believe it at the time, although it seems strange that someone thinking that life was so meaningless and unbearable would even take the effort to write and record music. On the other hand, maybe he just went for the most depressing message possible, for the Goth music street cred. In any case, it's not all negative; Angel has as somber a tone as the rest of the album, but its message is "if you love somebody, set them free".

E† is dedicated to all foetus acting wisely enough to die in their mother's womb before they could be thrown into this cruel world full of blind hate. May they never know how hard it is to live without any reason, without any sense.. -From the liner.