PRESS on "Post-Climax"

"An impressive synthpunk odyssey through dark soundscapes. ASSASSUN takes us on a trip where the boundaries between genres are blurred and the senses are taken on a unique journey of discovery.An album that not only enriches the Berlin electronic scene, but deserves attention worldwide." - Gothic Empire (GER)

"[T]he apocalypse made into musical notes, the soundtrack to life after the tipping points. [...] The man is and remains a product of breathtaking musical ideas. [...] Under his alias Assassun he gives his synthesizers and his vocals free rein. This freedom [...] is once again fascinating. "Footnote" twitches nervously in the room while Alexander confidently practices rap vocals. [...] "“Spectator” would do John Foxx credit just for its synth melodies. But any euphony is only brief and striking, only to immediately destroy these tonal beauties." - Unter.Ton (GER)

"[T]his is the best album yet from ASSASSUN. [T]welve delightful tracks of electro-goth gloom. [...] Throughout I loved the dirty sounding off-kilter electronic sound. [...]So much of the music on this album just sounds sublime, there is a sense of urgency that comes from many of the songs (most nightmarish, the freefall feeling 'If'), such as 'Hell Here' and the best track on the album, 'CPR' that has great machinegun style beats to it." - The Rotting Zombie (UK)

"This ridiculously talented fellow likes to wear different hats, dress up, wear masks, splatter paint or unfathomable gunk all over his face, meanwhile using different monikers. So we have gone along with Alex’s ruse that Assassun are a collective of dangerous-looking beef-cake blokes in sweaty-leather harnesses behind the LP, Post Climax. As you will hear from If, Assassun/Alex have forged this idea to perfection. Top notch production, fun and unwavering. - Life Elsewhere Radio (USA)

"If you are still not giving due consideration to the artistic destiny of such a capable, attentive, sensitive, prepared, genuinely enthusiastic, and in his own way unique musician in the reference panorama, you are really blocking yourself from something. [A]n essential and bare synthpunk framework, always attentive to exploit in the best and most effective way those few but incisive elements used [...] It seems increasingly incredible how Alexander's speed of creation practically never affects the quality of his many releases" - Darkroom Magazine (ITA)

"8/10 - Another unique, idiosyncratic release [...] The diligence and zeal with which this musical jack-of-all-trades manages to give each of his own projects its own face is quite impressive. [...] "Sink Your Sword Into Me” is like the original father of the EBM due to its hammering rhythm, while the hollow vocals could come straight from the cold wave school and gradually a naked synth pop tune appears. [...] After all, just when you think you've got it figured out, ASSASSUN suddenly sounds a little different. The soundscapes may be somewhat brachial, especially compared to many hyped and overproduced current electro releases [...] “Post-Climax” is of a different order, a lot more authentic, closer to the 'do it yourself' mentality of the 80s." - Dark Entries (BEL)

"8/10 - [O]nce again delivers real synthpunk with all the cynicism and all the necessary optimism. It doesn't sound like a small show stage, more like a small, sterilized industrial space, or a steelworks or a monstrous steel stadium. The music sounds raw and pure, cold and minimalist." - Saitenkult (GER)

"While Vlimmer’s austere take on post-punk and darkwave is often abrasively sharp and stoic, the fuzz and distortion around the synths and drum machines which make up numbers like this one recall both the roots of synthpunk and the long history of folks from well beyond the usual scope of “dark” synth taking up that mantle over the past couple of decades. Shout out Michelle Pfeiffer!" - I Die: You Die (CAN)

"Featured album of the week. Spellbinding stuff. Dark, frantic, and chilling. Incredible." - Loose Canon on 6 Towns Radio (UK)

[E]energetic 'disharmony', lashing vocal tones and truly dark sounds, further testimony to the boundless eclecticism of its author. [...] Here Donat appropriates even greater freedom to experiment, handling the synth with extraordinary skill and a great ability to outline varied, dark but also 'futuristic' scenarios, so much so that Post-Climax flows fluidly, with different strengths and without a single 'dead' moment. In "CPR", one of the best episodes, the context becomes even more harsh and even the manipulated voice contributes to defining a futuristic yet disturbing scenario" - Ver Sacrum (ITA)

"8/10 - [S]ynths going decidedly 80's synthpop, but with dark edges, rot has set in [...] standing on the precipice staring down all the evil surrounding us [...] a dark dancefloor funk edge to them. [...] fear is the fuel for the 2020's [...] dystopian synths grinding away [...] [D]oom laden [...] ambient darkscapes eulogy for the lost, as well as those unable to save themselves from coming cataclysms" - Whisperin' & Hollerin' (IRE)

"Energizing. [...] Up there but also very terrestrial. ASSASSUN rejects labels, only complying with his own injunctions. "You Can't" opens the ball with a dark and lunar hip-hop escape. "Footnote" then twirls, agitated electro, cold of course. The sounds, as usual with the man, burst out from behind the shackles. "Sling Me Out" hesitates between rap vocals, goth swirls and EBM in the skies. "Post-Climax" cannot be defined, on the edge of several musical rivers. He excels, frenzied. [...] Assassun differs, in its own sphere." - Muzzart (FRA)

"Old-fashioned enjoyment in a new guise! [H]e thoroughly stirs the music from the 80s, and then uses it to forge his completely idiosyncratic and contemporary music. He creates modern songs that are catchy and really bring something different through his stirring English-language, sometimes almost indie pop-like vocals [...] a kind of mix of Damon Albarn with Robert Smith. That slight contrast is really infectious." - De Subjectivisten (NL)

"[Q]uite frankly it doesn’t get better than this. [...] It is evident why ASSASSUN is described as synthpunk, vocals full of sneering contempt and snappy synths. Donat spits out ‘sling me out, sling me out‘ because in the end when you are no longer wanted, what is there left to lose. There is an 80s inspired jauntiness with the electronics dipping into menacing deep tones" - Onyx Music Reviews (AUS)

"Hardcore techno and dark synthwave are in constant contrast. These sound textures create a complementing eerie and dystopian mood to create an unconventional and contrasting groove. [...] A little Jean-Michel Jarre, hellfire lights, rap, D.A.F. references and nervous fidgeting. “Swallow My Sky” is disco in a swamp morass instead of a hardcore dance floor. And Alex says the "thoughts of the day" [word for Sunday] so forcefully and succinctly that the words are burned into the central nervous system." - Underdog Fanzine (GER)

"[I]t is a delight to hear the influence of Fad Gadget re-surfacing in the music of today. The track uses synths with a sublime sound quality, doing exactly what synths should do, making sounds which would not otherwise exist. The lyrics and vocals also shadow the instrumentation to good effect with their slightly slithering, insect-like delivery." - Skreen B (UK)

"[C]ombines electronic hard beats in techno style, synth sounds in darkwave style and robust, distinctive vocals. [...] A little Jean-Michel Jarre, hellfire lights, rap, D.A.F. references and nervous fidgeting. [...] HC techno and dark synthwave are in constant contrast. These sound textures create an eerie or dystopian mood that complements the HC techno to create an unconventional and contrasting groove." - Underdog Fanzine (GER)

"A strong instrumental framework, in which the lyrics stand out beautifully in their robust singing.” – Luminous Dash (BEL)

"Cool German goth stuff" - Clean Nice Quite (USA)