Posted: January 27th, 2008
Contributed By: Vic

	Purchase @ Amazon.com Release Date: January 29th, 2008 via Motor Music
	Emigrate is: Richard Kruspe (Vocals / Guitar) Olsen Involtini (Guitar) Arnaud Giroux (Bass) Henka Johansson (Drums)

Overview: Before he founded one of the most successful bands in German history, Richard Kruspe was in a band called “Orgasm Death Gimmicks,” which played a self-described sort of “American” music. He eventually decided that wasn’t the right route for him. So he returned to East Berlin and Rammstein was born. When Rammstein took a 2-year vacation in 2005 following the release of their 5th album, RosenRot, Kruspe decided to experiment once more with “American” music. The end result is his new band’s self titled debut, ‘Emigrate‘, which releases just as Rammstein reconvenes to begin work on a new album.

The Good: ‘Emigrate‘ starts out strong with the opening salvo of “Emigrate”, “Wake Up” and lead single “My World” (featured on the soundtrack for the Resident Evil: Extinction film). On these tracks, Emigrate does everything that Rammstein does right. The guitars are crushing, the bass rolls over everything in front of it, and the drums never stop pounding. The differences between this band and Kruspe’s other one are: A) Kruspe himself is singing, and not his burly counterpart, Till Lindemann; and B) the lyrics are completely in English. Kruspe’s voice covers a higher range than Lindemann’s subsonic delivery, though he can go deep when he wants to. His guitar playing is consistent as well, never really tearing it up, but frantic at times. At first, it sounds pretty much like an English Rammstein album, minus the keyboards.

The Bad: Following the strong start, the album takes a turn for the worst. “In My Tears” at first seems like a welcome return to glory, if you will. But closer listening reveals that the song steals the exact same guitars from Rammstein’s 2004 tune “Stein Um Stein.” It’s unthinkable that Kruspe would think his fans wouldn’t notice such a blatant rip-off. After that, the album might as well be over, but you’re only halfway through. At this point Emigrate starts doing everything that critics berate Rammstein for. The riffs seem redundant and all start sounding the same from song to song. The best solos are definitely gone by the time you pass track 7, “New York City.” Some of the lyrics just sound odd to native English-speakers, as if they were written just because they rhymed. (”Your lower power is calling; Spiders crawling through your open pores; In your presence feel you’re falling; I say enough but all you want is more” from “You Can’t Get Enough”) As the album rolls on, you get the impression that a singer with a heavier voice would have been better-suited for the grinding guitars that are here. The semi-ballads “Temptation” and “You Can’t Get Enough” start to break up the monotony, but it’s too little, too late.

Bottomline: It’s hard to call Emigrate a Rammstein clone since the bands share the same guitarist, but that’s essentially what it is. The album cover even resembles Rammstein’s 1997 release ‘Sehnsucht‘, with a close up of Kruspe’s disembodied head with empty, white eyes. Side projects are often hit-or-miss, and Emigrate is pretty much a miss. It sounds too much like a Rammstein B-side, for better and for worse. Only Rammstein’s die-hard fans ought to take the time to listen, and even they’ll be disappointed.

Rating: 6 out of 10