Batch #2

This week's new arrivals through my letterbox...

Die Weisse Rose "A Martyrium Of White Roses" CD [2009]
I don't even know why I bought this, and I don't mean that in a bad way. I had only heard one track on the artist's myspace, and had never heard them live or anything, but yet I decided to get a copy of the CD anyway. I shouldn't go online when I've been drinking, I often wake up in the morning wondering why I ordered all that porn... Anyway, this is a pretty good album, the debut in fact, full of everything to keep the Martial Industrial fan happy. Vocals in English and German, military drums, violin and piano mixed in with the occasional sample. I think if you put Blood Axis, ROME and Triarii in a blender and made a power-shake out of them, this is what you would end up with.
(4 out of 5)

Poets To Their Beloved "Embrace The Fool" CD [2007]
I overlooked this two-piece in the past, probably because at the time I was more into Noise than this, but now I have made amends for my past error and decided to give this album a shot. I'm glad I did. One of Equilibrium Music's finest acts, and certainly not a clone of anything else on the roster, no no. Acoustic guitar backed by sporadic almost tribal drums, with both male and female vocals taking an equal share of the work. It's romantic but I don't think it can be thrown in the same drawer as a million other Folk CDs; there is something different here, something which sets it apart from the bland also-rans. Every track is unique, but it's maybe a little too long for my taste.
(4 out of 5)

Puissance "Mother Of Disease" (EQM Reissue) CD [2008] [orig. 1999]
I don't often buy reissues of albums I already have (the Whitehouse vinyl collection series being a notable exception), but now that my fiance has left me, I suddenly find myself with cash to spend on myself for once, so I decided to splash out on this CD seeing as I had previously bought the other two Puissance reissues. This was a transitional period in the duo's career and one which I very much like, although at the time of the original release I remember having doubts about it. It just didn't seem to have the power of the two previous discs, with a sound that was, to me, a little hollow. Listening to it now, I still love it for what it is, a bombastic and apocalyptic piece with some awesomely emotive tracks - "Reign Of Dying Angels", "In Shining Armour" - this time with an added bonus track which sounds very unlike Puissance. After this album they began bringing in the Pop elements, so I guess this is the last most Classical sounding material they recorded.
(4 out of 5)