Evoke

Rudy Ratzinger, recording as :wumpscut:, has always been a bit more adventurous than most of his Teutonic-industrial colleagues. While his music is reliably dark and heavy, with lots of pounding four-beats-to-the-bar rhythms and harsh, stage-whispered vocals, he's been known to throw the occasional funky curve ball as well. Evoke is true to form in both regards: in among the usual astringent electronic beats and the snarls of paranoid derision there are some surprising moments of lyrical, almost contemplative beauty, most of them provided courtesy of two credited but not really identified female singers: Clara S. and Jane M. Also interesting are "Churist Churist," a song written in an artificial language of Ratzinger's own invention, and the nicely crafted "Obsessio," written in what appears to be Catalan and sung by Clara S. The aptly titled "Breathe," an instrumental punctuated with the sound of harsh panting, is more disturbing than musically interesting, and the instrumental "Krolok" is simply boring. The album's title track, on the other hand, is musically engaging but lyrically tedious. The remixes that end the album are OK, but nothing terribly special. Overall, Evoke is a worthy addition to :wumpscut:'s impressive catalog; it would be a significant achievement for many of Ratzinger's labelmates, but doesn't rise significantly above the high standard of innovation and musicianship that Ratzinger has set for himself previously.