First, let me start off by saying this review is quite overdue. I got this CD back in early July, I believe, and listened to it on at least one long roadtrip and at various other points over the past few months. Somehow, my review button got shut off, in spite of my enjoyment of this CD.  I just popped it in the discman again yesterday, for my daily walk. It was a grey day, and I needed something to motivate me. It worked.  

Often times I find it hard to keep my interest up while listening to this sort of industrial music. It all tends to blur into one long, repetitive haze of dark and smoky night at the club. The kind of night when you really wish you had stayed home, because every song sounds the same and it all sounds like sleep in spite of the beats.
 
Ancient Gallery are NOT one of those bands. They cite their influences as Einsturzende Neubauten and Nine Inch Nails, and they are dead on without being derivative. They've picked up the tricks without copying them, and made them something of their very own. 
 
The one song that reminds me the most of Einsturzende Neubauten is Durch, which has a certain sort of wordplay I associate with EN. Using the rhythm of the language as an intergral part of the composition, as opposed to setting words to music. 
 
According to the information I got with the CD, they have been around since 1992 when (if their ages are correct) none of them were any older than 16 or 17. Their stageshows are rumored to be quite theatrical. Not only do they perform the music contained in this CD, but they do readings for sepcial events. Their stage art and costumes are done by Carsta Kohler
(WWW.gewandkunst.de) who has also done work for Gothes Erben. 

This is the sort of album I would have loved during my DJ days. It's packed full of songs that could fit into, or bridge the gap between, quite a few sets. But since I no longer spend my nights behind the turntables (or CD players), I am quite satisfied to keep this CD close at hand for my own enjoyment. 
 
Tracklist:
durch
ich leer
feuer
laughing
ziel weiter
new dawn fades 
nachwelt
nurda
sleep
vielleicht
dreh dich

band: 
Robin Weinhold
Andy Weinhold
Mario Friedrich
Dirk Mehnart

Contact:
Mirko Sennewald
Louisenstr.29
D - 01099 Dresden / Germany
http://www.theancientgallery.com
e-mail: management@theancientgallery.de

lable info:
Noiseworks Records
http://www.noiseworks.net

12/03/01