KATANGA is a gothic rock band. The band is based in East Germany.  They may indeed be a gothic metal band, but let's not forget the techno influences here. Several of their songs are sung in German, so of course I can't really comment on them aside from the instrumentation. The male vocalist reminds me of the singer from RAMMSTEIN. He talks more than he sings. If you simply go buy their lineup info and the listing of the instruments that they play, you would never know it has a lot of electronic and keyboard usage in it.  They have a good grasp on how to implement the haunting female vocals in the background as most gothic metal bands do. They use the keyboards to supply the backing rhythm and it often drowns out the bass as a result. That is neither good nor bad, just an observation.

The song "Batfight" is the highlight of the album. It has a lot of energy and is very catchy. This song is a constant wall of sound. The male vocalist is at his best here, singing the entire time instead of just talking his way through it. I would like if they kept this approach as opposed to the talking and the techno. "Batfight" is very much metal.  I have not heard their previous album, but since this song is labeled as being new, I assume it was on the previous record. Also, since the last three songs are "new" and in English, perhaps they were sang in German originally. Either way, these three songs are very good. There must have been a good reason to do them over again. KATANGA is really a surprise to me. I had no idea what to expect; Perhaps because of their Germanic heritage. Whatever the case, they are a pleasant surprise, not an unpleasant one.  The more I listen to this album, the more I appreciate it for what it is. MOONCHILD is a fun little album and I doubt it is meant to be taken seriously. Hopefully nothing is lost upon me in translation. I would hate to offend the guys.

Overall, MOONCHILD is an entertaining record. As of this writing, they only have two songs on their myspace page, so I don't know if going there would give you a true and accurate example as to what this band is all about. I say that because the music varies from song to song. This is most certainly not a case of "if you have heard one song, you have heard them all". I like their energy. I like the production and how they implement the various styles. Be prepared for a little bit of everything.  A purchase might be just what the doctor ordered; especially for the gothic metal fans out there.