Over the fourteen years of its existence, Grausame Töchter has proved its ability to build rich, catchy musical worlds, with its EBM rhythms, a diversity of sounds ranging from saturated guitars to orchestral instruments and everything electronic in between, and the avid vocals of frontwoman Aranea Peel. What's more, the band has never failed to renew itself. So we can't wait to see what the German band have in store for us on BDSM For Satisfaction, their seventh album released at the end of the year. But we're hoping that the content will surprise us more than the title and cover, because Grausame Töchter could hardly be more predictable...
Fortunately, we're quickly reassured that BDSM For Satisfaction has its own personality. Where the previous album, the excellent Zyklus (review), was fuelled by violin, cello and piano, which added colour to the already particularly tense tracks, BDSM For Satisfaction relies almost entirely on its rough, hammered electronic loops. However, the tempos are also slower and the vocals no longer have the martial edge they might have had in the band's more purely EBM early days. We're locked in, subjected to the mechanical rhythms, while Aranea sings with a cruel sensuality, occasionally accompanied by backing vocals. This tense atmosphere works particularly well on Schnabel zu and Schmerz, both of which work on the principle of bludgeoning us before the clean vocals and guitar suddenly come to our rescue, or on Meine Droge heißt Sex with its lascivious, madcap rhythm.
It has to be said, though, that the formula doesn't work so well on several other tracks. On Arroganz muss man sich leisten können or Ich hau drauf, for example, there's a lack of acceleration to really pull you in - or, on the contrary, the ominous elements that made the gloomy atmosphere of the album Glaube Liebe Hoffnung, which remains one of Grausame Töchter's best, are missing. Here, on the other hand, you get the impression that you're stuck in the middle.
And then, at times, BDSM For Satisfaction takes us on amazing flights of fancy that contrast with the rest of the album, giving us the impression of suddenly escaping our bonds. This is of course the case with Duelo en México, where a trumpet takes centre stage while Aranea plays a playful role; enjoyable though it is, the track still lacks a real crescendo. We prefer the fast, delirious Folterkeller, which finally gives us the boost we've been craving all along, and above all Ich will dich leiden sehen, which starts off in all innocence and ends up knocking us off our feet with its saturated guitar!
So the verdict is a little mixed this time round: this is not the register in which Grausame Töchter are most appreciated, but the album has its own originality and diversity, and offers a wide variety of addictive tracks.
