PRESS
"He is fast becoming a 21st century goth legend." - Whisperin and Hollerin (IRE)
"Never fails to surprise and delight, [he] might be the crazed mad scientist of the German post-punk world." - Onyx Music Reviews (AUS)
"[N]ailed it" - Brutal Resonance (USA)
"Vlimmer rules [...] Donat knows better than anyone how to color and shape all those genres in his own unique way. Of course there are names like #TheCure, Clan of Xymox, Orchestral manoeuvres in the Dark, Ritual Howls, Deftones, Wumpscut and Modern English that I can use as reference but Vlimmer really has created his own sound. It's become an equally beautiful and deeply emotional work. Wonderful for the melancholics among us." - De Subjectivisten (NL)
"[T]he album's ostensible softness gradually transforms into emotional steel wool. [...] Vlimmer is still fatalism set to music [...] oscillating back and forth between danceable darkwave and more negative post-punk. Because of this polarity, the album also sounds a bit looser and less depressing than its predecessor. [...] in many ways “Zerschöpfung” seems a bit like a defiance album. The lyrics often read like psychoanalyses of a tormented mind that is aware of the futility and meaninglessness of its life. But the music's (at the same time often strange) catchiness makes it somehow positive, even if not in the classic sense."-
Musikreviews.de (GER)
"[A] man whose energy knows no bounds. Donat’s vocals, as always for me in these recent releases, really make his music a bit special and there is no exception in “Luftmangel. The bass laden electronic undertones, serve to highlight the throbbing and pulsating synths, a juxtaposition of heaviness versus buoyant light. Those dark accents just make your senses quiver in delight and you can hear a harkening back to early Gary Numan." - Onyx Music Reviews (AUS)
"The general instrumentation, especially the use of synths, is completely on the money. Happily, unlike a lot of tunes of this genre, the vocal does not disappoint and sits well amongst all the sound textures. Joyous gloom is the name of the day" - Green Banana (UK)
"Turbulent, amazing, a great undertaking with great results [...] Try the dark wild dance of “Flurfall”, then go to “Teerritt” for a throwback to the first ‘ingredients’ of pure new wave music, and turn up the volume at the “Gipfelluft” for the beloved industrial ‘neubautenism’, and the same industrialism will nail you happily again in the tardy style of “Todesangst”, and cheers to the opening intro “Losig” which with a remix can become a glorious track to dance to its pressure, and the closing track of the album, “Austrocknung” that many of you will hear it as the coolest song of the album and you are probably right." - White Light/White Heat (ITA)
"In a crossover of darkwave, post-punk, industrial and new wave, Vlimmer remains unfailingly inventive and involved: here is a new and poignant edifice of nine tracks of which you feel the demand for detail and the emotional involvement from the start of "Losig", followed by the inhabited "Flurfall" whose rhythmic tribal accents hypnotize you and recall the best of old fashion coldwave vintages." - Obsküre Digital Media (FRA)
"Vlimmer, the busy genre-busting artist from Berlin with a penchant for neologisms, has released a new album called “Zertreibung” – a good metaphor for the state of society between exhaustion and thirst for creativity: it contains songs that are melancholically melodic between post-punk , goth rock and industrial shimmer. Vlimmer is reminiscent of related acts such as Crystal Soda Cream, The Cure or Whispering Sons, but always retains its idiosyncratic touch." - Tonspion (GER)
"Infused with dark soundscapes and carried by a profound melancholy. [...] The expansive analogue synth sounds catch the ear, exuding a touch of nostalgia and inevitably reminiscent of the early years of Depeche Mode. But Vlimmer knows how to skilfully interweave these elements and create a unique sound tapestry of his own. The intro [of "Luftmangel"] could just as well be the prelude to an 80s EBM hit, and therein lies the strength - it combines classic synth elements with modern dark wave." - Electrozombies (GER)
"[A] dark, but soothing musik excursion through the mist and dimly lit yet inviting places. [It] is music for beautiful tragedies. Make no mistake about it. These are mournful sounds. Musically, this recalls bands like The Cure during their "Seventeen Seconds" era, as well as the dark but danceable modern apprentices that goth has created." - Alt77 (SWE)
"Vlimmer as a project starts to deviate more and more from his heavily 80s-influenced roots. He will not lose them, but always adds a little more of his own identity! Beautiful." - Luminous Dash (BEL)
"Yes, the vocals! They’re deep, sonorous and they add a lot of darkness to the music. I really like the gloomy soundscape" - Indie Tapes (GER)
"Alexander is initially "Losig" relaxed and surrounds cold synth wave with nebulous melodies, before he takes a step onto the dancefloor in "Flurfall" with fragile vocals, and then with "Makks" he completely arrives in the fairytale-like, syncopated rhythm. [...] Zerschöpfung" as a whole is the development of creativity and potential in the cold synth wave sector, without expressing the feeling of exhaustion or overload, rather than taking more time for yourself." - Underdog Fanzine (GER)
"I don’t know what Germany’s Vlimmer is saying but throughout the dark wave post punk atmospheres of “Makks” he says it so broodingly well.” - American Pancake (USA)
"Apocalyptic flood and apocalyptic drought alternate. [...] The claustrophobia [#1 album] and the trance dance [#2 album] are followed by fighting on all fours. VLIMMER's third studio album experiences a real identity crisis, completely with exhaustion and bleeding." - Saitenkult (GER)
released August 25, 2023
