Where Is My Mind?

     It’s been ten years since the Germanic industrial-metal machine Rammstein released a new album, and their latest untitled work is proof that ten years in between releases hasn’t mellowed them one bit. Being the undisputed champions of Neue Deutsche Härte ("New German Hardness"), Rammstein have never faltered and have made consistently rock-solid music throughout their decades-long career. Known for blistering riffs, militant beats, epically executed synth lines, and bombastic (often anthemic) choruses, the “Matchstick Album”, as we’ll call it, is a continuation of the sound that made us fall in love with Rammstein.      Opening the album is lead single "Deutschland", and it’s a welcome return to their own spectacular fashion. It is a crisp and razor-sharp number, with lyrics expressing patriotic difficulties toward the band’s homeland, once a diplomatic powerhouse. The video for the single isn’t short of controversial, either: it is a concept v...

     Iconic goth-rock band The Cure are having a very big 2019. Not only were they inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by none other than industrial-goth symbol Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, their emblematic masterpiece, Disintegration , turned 30 years old and they are celebrating by touring the world and playing the album in its entirety. What a wow!      Disintegration is one of those albums that has grown bigger and better over time since its release. It is the pinnacle of the band’s growth over the previous decade, a milestone in their career, and, most importantly, the record that beautifully captures the band’s creative powers at its peak. It is inarguably THE quintessential goth-rock album of all time ( Pornography , another bleak Cure release, is number two). Characterized by a significant use of synthesizers and keyboards, slow and droning guitar progressions awash with chorus and flange effects (a signature sound for the band),...