It is a natural occurrence that very successful bands will get followers who try to do what they did without being too obvious. Others will be less subtle. DAMPF is one of the latter category, as their brand of RAMMSTEIN style Industrial Metal has quite a lot of similarities with their peers. Biggest difference that springs to mind is the way the refrains are sung, or should I say, how much harmonies are being used during the refrains. I must also admit that these are the only parts that get my nerves up, that make me consider lowering the rating I will give this record.

These Swedish musicians have something to prove, and it has to be said, they do just that. The music might have the same background as their already mentioned peers, I actually prefer "The Arrival" over most of the German albums. Except "Mutter", which always will be a class album, easily their best. But why would I prefer this? Because it has life, it is not only Industrial, it is also Metal, plus it has an organic feel to it. I suspect that this is mainly due to the fact that all these musicians play in really down to earth Heavy Metal bands.

Some of them, like SABATON and HAMMERFALL, are used to telling a story and knowing when to mix heavy passages with melodic parts and voices. All of this is lead in the right direction by band leader Martin "E-Type" Erikson, and he has good reason to be proud of his achievements. He has made sure that all the songs are well written and have a certain kind of sound. Like I said, if DAMPF would have refrained from using the over-the-top harmonies I would have had to conclude that this is a world class album. Especially as the music on offer is above any reproach.

So, if you do like your Industrial to be Metal, but also very accessible, you can do a lot worse than DAMPF. And if you do like your harmonies to be a little over the top, you can't do much better then "The Arrival". For me it is the musicality which saves the day, as I feel that is really, bloody, good. If only they would have matched the vocals to the roughness of the music. Unfortunately, the picture as a whole just falls that little bit short of what I was hoping for when I started listening. Well, as they say, you can't win them all.