Terminal Choice - Übermacht Review
The Chris Pohl side project Terminal Choice are back with a new album, Übermacht, and, in their own words, are better than before! Confident words, but does the music actually live up to the hype?
The first track certainly sticks with the theme! It’s called ‘We Are Back’! a catchy slice of danceable industrial-metal. Pohl clearly already has his tongue inserted very firmly in his cheek with brilliantly self-aware lyrics like “We’ve grown older but we’ll do it all again, we are back and we’re better than before - now it’s time for a rock ‘n’ roll war!” and “Throw you’re hand’s in the air, lets make some noise - everyone knows shit’s Terminal Choice!” He couldn’t lay the black humor on any thicker if he tried.
‘Bad Trippin’ is a very upbeat track, very reminiscent of later Blutengel tracks. With a chorus of “Take me, use me, and enjoy!” who could ever possibly resist?
“Fight The System” is a really heavy, angry industu-metal track, very reminiscent of Eisbrecher which breaks down into a far poppier, catchier chorus, just to surprise you!
‘Myspace Hero’ is utterly priceless. It viciously attacks the clichés of our generation with a chorus of “You are a Myspace Hero but you have no friends in the real world” and with other lines such as “You can’t remember how it feels to touch a girl!” it speaks volumes of the hollow nature of online popularity and is dripping with black humour and irony.
‘Kommerz’ is the first track on the album actually in German! A slick electronic track laden with frantic industrial beats to pick up the pace.
‘Keine Macht’ is a real slice of Neue Deutsche Harte. Heavy vocals with a high trancey sounds floating above,. The chorus largely involves counting in German (which I will always have a soft spot) and literally sounds like something OOMPH! would produce. Really makes you want to get on a floor and DANCE!
‘I’m a monster’ is so full of angst and self-loathing, it could easily be a Blutengel track, but whereas Blutengel would contrast Pohl’s lyrics pretty female harmonies, here he has angry male shouting vocals instead, whish when mixed with brilliant beats and solid riffs again sounds very like Eisbrecher - heavy, industrial anger!
The standout track on the album, for me is the cover version of Katy Perry’s ‘I kissed A Girl’! I was first alerted to the existence of this cover in the Orkus yearly review in which Chris Pohl, Constance Rudert and Ulrike Goldmann ALL named it as their cover version of the year. This left me excitedly looking forward to the release, just to her this one song. I was not disappointed! It’s hilarious just to hear Pohl’s deep, sexual tones on what was previously a saccharine bubblegum pop hit. Also, with subtle lyric changes and the obvious gender change, it makes the song a lot less annoying. Perry’s original “Omg I kissed a girl for fun!” attitude really rather pissed me off - there are far too many heterosexual girls that will get off with a lesbian or bisexual girl purely for fun or to turn guys on, which is a sad, sick situation. But with Pohl, the song then becomes about cheating and promiscuity - immediately less irritating! Overall, it’s far more listenable that original and will be one of those cover versions that will get played in Goth clubs from now until the end of time!
One of the things I like about Terminal choice is that they are FUNNY. And not in the same way that Blutengel are funny. When it comes to Blutengel, you can giggle all you want about the constant references to walking down dark lonely streets, sitting alone in cold darkened rooms and blood (lots and lots of blood) but can’t help the humour being tempered by the knowledge that, if you were into this band when you, yourself were about 15 and dripping with angst, those lyrics would have spoken to your very soul! So whilst I personally can’t listen to massive Blutengel hits such as Lucifer or Angels Of The Dark without a massive grin spreading across my face - they are RIDICULOUSLY GOTH and that’s why I love them, but it sometimes concerns me whether all fans would think the same way! But with Terminal choice, you know it’s all light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek and it’s rather reassuring to know that the gloomy Vampiric face of Blutengel is only one of the many faces of Pohl. It’s good for him to have this outlet, so he can work with all the other sounds that clash the Blutengel schema.
So, are Terminal Choice better than before? You’d better believe it, baby!