If Til Lindemann subscribed to the school of Phil Anselmo (Or BMTH’s Oli Sykes) instead of Peter Murphy and Peter Steele (RIP!) then perhaps Rammstein would sound a little more like We Butter The Bread With Butter. If you wished your Rammstein thrashed a little harder (Is that even possible?) then Golkinder, WBTBWB’s third full-length, is definitely for you. Hailing from Germany (the same country of that other band I’ve already mentioned too many times in this piece), WBTBWB is an absolute force of industrial metal nature.
Opener “Alles was ich will” is a sonic tour-de-force bringing to mind Sehnsucht with its use of angelic female vocals (Which pop up during other tracks here as well) but way more aggressive overall and littered with more electronics. “Meine Brille” follows and is the best example of “heavy metal pop” and will have fans banging their heads as much as shaking their hips.
Later on, the glistening techno pop of “Krieg Aus Gold” changes things entirely with nary a “Cookie Monster” vocal to be heard throughout. “Krieg…” might be slightly jarring especially as it comes after the monolithic “Das Uhrwerk” featuring a massive mosh-friendly breakdown and some Zakk Wylde-inspired shredding. Who wants to listen to the same song for eleven or twelve tracks anyhow? WBTBWB prove they have range on Goldkinder in spades.
Speaking of range, let’s talk about vocalist Paul Bartzsch for a second, okay? The vocal magnitude on this guy is unbelievable. Whether it’s the spoken word approach on “Krieg Aus Gold”, the ear-piercing screech on “Psycho” (A stand out on Goldkinder) or the growl from the depths on tracks like “Alles was ich will” and the spaghetti western meets vicious march of closer “Kind Im Brunnen”, Bartzsch adds layers and layers to each WBTBWB cut.
Sung in German, the heaviness is still just as effective even if you can’t understand what the band is saying.
Goldkinder is out now. Consider this a warning. Buy it here.
Grade: A