Belfegore – Belfegore

I don't know, to these ears, Belfegore don't really have much in common with the typical Goth rock of the time. For their major label debut - with aspirations for the American market - the band has taken on a more mysterious post-punk sound, albeit accessibly so, that is hard to pigeonhole. From one song to the next, Belfegore keeps things fresh and unpredictable. Opener and lead single "All That I Wanted" (which had a fantastic video to go along with it that enjoyed MTV airtime once upon a time) is the sort of anthemic and 'large' post-punk / hard rock hybrid that began infiltrating 1984; with a riff that'll lodge itself into your psyche, enjoyable vocals and a chorus catchier than the common cold, it introduced savvy, early 'alternative' music all the way from Germany to unbeknownst MTV-hungry kids. But Belfegore rarely stay in any one mode of operation, nor disappoint their listener as a one trick pony, as the band ratchet up the forlorn haunting atmosphere in "Questions," play with delicious synths on "Love," have your booty shakin' by way of the throbbing techno-rock of "Wake Up With Sirens," coast along lazily for the absolutely hypnotizing "Seabird Seamoan," get hyperactive on "Don't You Run," bring out the groovy basslines by the time "Comic With Rats Now" shows up, invite you down "Into the Dungeon" - the one song that is goth rock, actually - before the singular misfire occurs, the eponymously named record closer. Experimental sounds that don't really seem to have much aim aren't my thing, but otherwise, everything else is ace.

A Dog Is Born

Formed 1982 in Düsseldorf, Belfegore quickly became part of the Neue Deutsche Welle movement, playing a distinctly German style of new wave music that owed a lot to both the early UK Goth scene as well as European punk. Their first album combines dark synths, aggressive guitars, experimental tendencies, and deep grooves. A Dog Is Born was a mostly self-financed affair, gaining a limited release in Germany through Pure Freude and imported into the UK by Rough Trade. Belfegore was a project and brainchild of the German singer and guitarist Michael (Meikel) David Clauss, formerly of Nichts and Der KFC, with Manfred "Charly" Terstappen (aka Charly T Charles) and Walter Jaeger, formerly with Die Krupps.