Most Germans are basically tacky; it's something they have in their DNA.
Refinement certainly does not find a home in the land of sauerkraut and gothic.
Yes, because Germany in the 1990s took over from England as the home of gothic (that's what the movement that only in Italy is called dark is called all over the world) while also churning out products of excellent quality and sophistication.
However, this is not the case with Umbra Et Imago.
If I were to judge this product by various side factors my judgment would be merciless. Accompanied on stage by dubious erotic shows that wink at the most vulgar and pathetic sex, naked women playing with whips and various stereotypes of desperate voyeurs, image (look at the leader to believe) bordering on the ridiculous, lyrics that border on zero in depth.
Yet in their homeland-and beyond-Umbra Et Imago are hailed, which shows how much taste does not lodge in Germany.
The mastermind of this project is a certain Mozart, I have never figured out whether this is his real surname or a stage name, the fact is that such an individual would not deserve to bear such a name, because it is almost an insult to art, who by playing on image (in a pathetic way) has managed to depopulate himself in a world (the dark world) where in the 1990s there was only this left - the outward side precisely - of a movement with much deeper roots.
Despite these strongly deterring factors, Umbra Et Imago's music is less worse than their image; nothing exceptional mind you, full of stereotypes and clichés and a certain innate underlying 'tackiness,' yet pieces like Kleine Schwester or Black Waves turn out to be catchy and fairly inspired.
I would have been curious to know how this group would have evolved if it had been English, caring more about substance than (bad) form.
Track listing:
1. Requiem mit dem ich meine Mit-menschen um Verzeihung bitt
2. Horst du mein rufen
3. Es war Einmal eine 'O'
4. You are Poison for me
5. Kleine Schwester
6. Der Trieb
7. Hass
8. Black Waves
9. Madeira
10. Winterage
Reviewed by Ian Delacroix
