OOMPH! WAHRHEIT ODER PFLICHT (SPECIAL EDITION) ALBUM RCA, BMG RELEASE: JUNE 9, 2004 REVIEW: JULY 1, 2004

The German veterans in Oomph! have now reached album number nine, and this time we’re talking commercial metal. Commercial as in polished and melodic, not as in crap.
Oomph! started out as an EBM-band, but have gradually worked themselves over to the guitar dominated spectrum of music, even though machines are found here and there in the songs. This has lead to widespread recognition at least in Germany, where this album entered the official charts, and the single “Augen Auf” even went to number one! There is no doubt that ”Wahrheit oder Pflicht” appeals to the masses.
The three guys with the fantastic stage names Dero, Crap and Flux can sure puzzle together a great rock tune when they want to, and as a matter of fact most songs here could be singles. If they just had trimmed down the album a tad it would be a lot tighter, and I think it would have benefited from that.
The orginal version of the album was released in Germany earlier this year. In my country Sweden, the new special edition I’m reviewing is the first and only one to show up. It has the new hit single (and funny, high-budget Frankenstein video) “Brennende Liebe”, which is an interesting collaboration with L’ame Immortelle and their female singer. Fans of melodic modern metal with industrial elements should definitely check this album out.

JOHAN CARLSSON