DANCE OR DIE SCHLAFENDE ENERGIE ALBUM SYNTHETIC SYMPHONY RELEASE: JUNE 25, 2001 REVIEW: JUNE 1, 2001

Berlin's Dance or Die are back with their fifth album and this is their first on SPV's Synthetic Symphony label. Note that "Schlafende Energie" is also released in a limited edition, with a sticker and two bonus mixes from Das Ich and Aliens Electric.
I will start right off by telling you I haven't been listening that much to Dance or Die in the past. I have heard some tracks like "Psychoburbia" and "Minuteman", and I have liked it, but I haven't delved deeper. Therefore, I perhaps I have a fresh view on the band, as this is the first complete album I've heard.
The first thought to hit me is "wow, they must have listened a lot to Sisters of Mercy", and this feeling stays with me throughout the album. That's not to say that the music always sounds like the Sisters, but at least the singing reminds me of Andrew Eldritch's.
The dark, growling style works for the most part, but in the slow and beautiful track "Free", the vocal duties is handled by another singer named Cecilia Aurore and it fits the song's gentler nature. The album is filled to the brim with 15 different tracks. The styles vary from slower, atmospheric tracks like "Secret of the Sun" to rampant dance tunes like "Reality Suxxx".
I think the melodic tracks works best, and my personal favourite is "Follow Me". It is a mid-tempo, uplifting track with nicely layered electronics underneath Wagner's dark vocals.
Unfortunately, because of the sheer number of tracks there is one boring track for every good one, which is a shame. Maybe they should have filtered out some of the tracks. The album is excellently produced, with a modern, almost exclusively electronic sound in most of the tracks. "Schlafende Energie" grows on me from listen to listen, but thanks to the many "filler" tracks, the rating won't go higher than seven.

JOHAN CARLSSON