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                         "Casting Shadows" by Wolfsheim
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CD album released by Strange Ways 2oo3

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After  I heard  their  single "Kein Zurück" on  radio and  saw the  video on the
usual music tv channels and red the recensions in different  music magazines, it
was clear that I  must have  this new  album by Wolfsheim, the german sysnth pop
heroes, too, as I'm  since years  addicted to  their music and the esp. the last
two fulltime albums are still hanging in my mind (Dreaming Apes and Spectators).

And so I got this album  too, short  after its  release in spring. I have to say
that I got  bored in  the remaining time to their  single hit "Kein Zurück" that
even matched  it to break the  german Top 1o and belongs to their most succesful
songs at all. But if you have to listen to this song day by day it goes you onto
the nerves  with the  time esp. since  the band  has a lot more to offer as just
this one, esp. when you  check out  the album "Casting Shadows" that offers real
pearls.

Ok, let's take a look at the tracklist before...

o1 - Everyone Who Casts A Shadow
o2 - Care For You
o3 - I Won't Believe
o4 - Kein Zurück
o5 - And I...
o6 - Underneath The Veil
o7 - Find You're Gone
o8 - This Is For Love
o9 - Wundervoll
1o - Approaching Lightspeed
11 - In Time

Right here  I have to  say that  the most  songs are moving more  or less around
mistakes every human  being will make and has  done in its life and what affects
this will have on him, truth and  lies, mistakes  and misunderstanding... And if
you take a closer look onto the lyrics they're so damn right.

Anyway, with  the opener  the album  offers a quite  slow but still driving song
with, for Wolfsheim very unusual, distorted  voices in the  refrain. Sounds very
strange but because of  Peter Heppners voice  still that much like Wolfsheim, as
it is especially his very remarkable  voice that stands  for Wolfsheim and makes
interestingly anything else somehow to a hit, too...

"Care For You" is a really calm pop love song, nothing special, maybe even a bit
too soft.

But  with "I Won't Believe" the  first  real surprise  comes up. The song starts
very slow with strange minimalistic sounds and  nearly spoken lyrics. So it goes
for a while and more and more instruments  and sounds are joining in and... then
the whole thing starts to rock! And they're smashing in a way nobody has thought
that  Wolfsheim could so so, as  the guitars  start to  join the  play and Peter
starts to sing with real power the song gains real good drive! Well done!

I wont loose any  words to "Kein Zurück" anymore  as this  song was consequently
played to death in  the radio. The song  isn't bad at  all, but only mediocre in
comparison  with other stuff  on the album. This  makes me  wonder a bit more as
especially the  german  songs by Wolfsheim had always  some special  feeling and
belonged to the highlights on the special albums.

"And I..." is a slow and  overall sad song but this time interestingly not about
a lost love but about  the fact that someone found out that he doesn't loves the
otherone anymore and from his viewpoint...

With "Underneath The Veil" comes  another very cool song up  that offers a sound
spectrum that is quite new compared with  other stuff by  Wolfsheim, since while
other acts are flooding  their sounds  with "future pop stuff" Wolfsheim  itself
are drifting a bit in direction of drum'n'bass and a little  bit trance now. And
so also this song has a murderous drive in the later part.

Still quite  driving is  the 7th song  but sounds also a bit more traditional in
its style. Just  nice synth pop... and so is the 8th too even if it sounds a bit
mixed here as the melody isn't that straight forward.

With "Wundervoll" another  german song  comes up that tops "Kein Zurück" without
any doubt. This is a quite stomping dancefloor oriented piece of music that even
sounds a bit housy in some parts, even the strange lyrics have a deeper sense if
you listen a bit better to them... one of the best songs on this album!

"Approaching Lightspeed" is again a  very driving  synth pop song that reminds a
bit to their "Dreaming Apes" times in its style. Nice song...

The last one is an  instrumental again  that comes along  quite technoing and is
the perfect background music for driving through  the night  on the highway with
the stars above, but without driving too fast... it is still a very relaxed song
though!

Hum, what to say at  all? "Casting Shadows" is another cool  Wolfsheim album and
they have matched it to top  their former album, "Spectators" slightly. This one
offers a lot of new sounds  and influences you  never have thought  to hear in a
Wolfsheim song and it  matches so cool  together... Well done! Btw... I also was
on a concert by them... check the link below!

-> Wolfsheim - 3o.o4.o3 in Erfurt/Germany <-

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