ATROCITY — Willenskraft (review)

ATROCITY — Willenskraft album cover Album · 1996 · Gothic Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"Willenskraft" is the 4th full-length studio album by German metal act Atrocity. The album was released through Massacre Records in July 1996. It´s the successor to "Blut" from 1994, although the gap between the two full-length studio albums is bridged by the two EPs "Calling the Rain (feat. Yasmin)" and "Die Liebe (feat. Das Ich)" (both released in 1995).

"Blut (1994)" and the two 1995 EPs saw Atrocity take a different and quite diverse musical turn away from the technical deathgrind/death metal of the band´s first two albums. Groove, goth, neo-folk, and industrial metal elements crept into Atrocity´s sound and their death metal/grindcore roots took the backseat. That development continues on "Willenskraft", which is also quite the varied release. There are a few death/thrashy affairs in "Blood-Stained Prophecy" and "The Hunt" featured on the album but that´s pretty much it. Some tracks feature a heavy industrial metal influence like the title track and "We Are Degeneration" and there´s also a gothic metal influenced track featured on the album in "Love Is Dead". The latter sounds a little like poor man´s Type O Negative to me. The musical style on "Willenskraft" is predominantly a heavy groove laden type of metal with raw throaty vocals in front.

"Willenskraft" is both a well played and well produced album, but the compositional diversity is not a strength in this case. It makes for an unfocused and incorrehent listen. It´s almost always praise worthy when an artist is able to genre jump but still make it work within the confines of their sound, but "Willenskraft" sound more like an artist who have lost themselves and their musical identity. The odd musical elements work in opposition and it´s seldom the tracks end up a satisfying listen. I feel frustrated half the time by the choices made by the band. When that is said "Willenskraft" could appeal to more musically open minded listeners than me or listeners who appreciate their music eclectic and varied, and overall it´s still a relatively good quality release. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.
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