Zombie Girl is one of those artist that I know since a long time, but that I rarely review. I must say that the CD starts very strong, but after a while it becomes clear that the remixes are better than the original tracks. If I can be frankly: I even got bored after some, whilst the remixes woke me up and made it better. So, in this case the remixes win!
The whispering voice gets a bit lifted up during the electro hard hitter Thorazine. It’s simply a great track with a superb bass feeling and ready for the dance floors! It’s short and very powerfull! More heavy bass and a sexy sound comes with the typical Zombie Girl track Panik Attack. Killer Queen is not the reworked version of the same Queen track, but one filled with stomping beats and girlie vocals with a sexy twist.
Yet another dance floor attack! We get some guitars during the darker side of Night Drive. The catchy Kiss Kiss Kiss has a minimal wave sound with a clear retro (80’s) sound. Pleasure Games starts with a marching sound (so typical for Marilyn Manson), but here boredom starts to get me. It all sounds as if I heard it before. Even the lyrics remind me of other tracks (Die Forrm for example), so yeah … Rave of the Dead is the next slow tempo thing, with that same whispering voice and some clapping hands. It sounds as if it wants to sound in a mysterious way, with a touch of S/M. I’m not impressed.
Dead Inside kicks you back into reality with the alarm and the roaring beats, but I tend to feel asleep after a while and am looking if I can’t do something else in the meantime. The whispering has no conviction in it, I simply don’t feel that this song has a reason to make it. I think the dead won’t get the wake-up call with this one. The best thing on this CD is their cover version of Fascination Street (The Cure): it’s a sticky and very gloomy version of a classic one. Fans of The Cure should simply buy this song and skip the rest. More retro Wave/pop comes with
Pleasure Victim. It sounds like as if it could figure on one of the compilations from a great label for retro lovers (Sub Culture Records) or see it as a Train to Spain copy (or some other female fronted band from the 80’s with a poppy wave sound), but hell: it’s the cover version of Berlin’s hit (I almost fooled you, right?).
Time for the wake-up call with the start of the remixes! Rave of the Dead finally gets the right tempo, beats and drive! This version sounds like a hit! Dead Inside gets a dark techno version that lifts it up to a higher level (with almost no vocals)! Diabolic Art adds a more bombastic sound, more beats, more drums and a wider sound and some Japanese influences! This one is stuff for the DJ’s and clubbers! HELL:SECTOR adds a male and very aggressive voice, just as more guitars and a harsher sound pushing it in the right direction! This version simply has it!
Sadly for Zombie Girl my conclusion is pretty hard: the remixes are better! If it would have depended on me: I would only poured an EP out of it! Thumbs up for the people behind the remixers!
TRACK-LIST:
CD 1 "Killer Queen"
01. Thorazine
02. Panic Attack
03. Killer Queen
04. Night Drive
05. Kiss Kiss Kiss
06. Pleasure Games
07. Rave Of The Dead
08. Dead Inside
09. Fascination Street
10. Pleasure Victim
BONUS TRACKS
11. Rave Of The Dead (PRE:EMPTIVE STRIKE 0.1 mix)
12. Dead Inside (AESTHETISCHE mix)
13. Pleasure Games (DIABOLIC ART mix)
14. Killer Queen (HELL:SECTOR mix)
CD 2 "The ZBM Files" bonus disc only available in the limited carton box edition
01. Killer Queen (LLUMEN mix)
02. Pleasure Games (PAX SONO mix)
03. Panic Attack (SIMON CARTER clubbed up mix)
04. Thorazine (PSY'AVIAH mix)
05. Panic Attack (AVARICE IN AUDIO mix)
06. Rave Of The Dead (EEXXEE mix)
07. Dead Inside (CARDINAL NOIRE mix)
08. Panic Attack (VENAL FLESH mix)
09. Pleasure Games (BLACK NAIL CABARET mix)
10. Killer Queen [feat. n0emi] (HELALYN FLOWERS mix)
11. Thorazine (SHADES:OF:HELL mix)
12. Pleasure Games (COMPLEX MIND mix)
13. Dead Inside (DIFFUZION mix)
14. Panic Attack (ACYLUM mix)
