SCHATTENMANN are a German industrial metal band formed in 2016 and this is their second full length studio album. This is their first album under AFM Records and follows 2018 debut "Licht an".

While I'm sure the band may not be too pleased with the comparison, they do sound a hell of a lot like RAMMSTEIN considering their heavy, industrial, often synthy tracks have similar qualities and every song is sung completely in German. Although while RAMMSTEIN tend to be on a more experimental, sometimes darker side of metal, Schattenmann are more of a party rock band that seem intent on creating good vibes with only a couple of more ballady tracks to keep things interesting.

The first song "Schattenland" is the perfect opening track to really give you an idea of what to expect. As Frank welcomes us to Shadow Land, we're hit with a massive riff that sounds like it could come from an early 2000's nu-metal anthem and the chorus has a nice hook which is something that will be repeated in quite a few tracks to come. They take a good tip from the RAMMSTEIN handbook in making the songs catchy and worth singing along to even if you don't speak any tracks.

The next few tracks follow this formula to the letter and would work very well as background music for a more metal-oriented party. Some of the riffs on offer an absolutely killer. The title track "Epidemie" in particular is just catch as all hell although some metal traditionalists may not appreciate the synths used during some of the riffs but I think it adds to the party atmosphere and it really doesn't hurt to have something a bit different.

"Ruf der Engel" is our first of two ballad tracks and while I did enjoy the more melodic verse, I feel like the chorus kind of ruins it a bit as I'm sure it's meant to come across as a bit more emotional but with the almost stilted vocals it just doesn't work and I found myself becoming bored with the track on repeated listens. Thankfully the next track "Kopf durch die Wand" gets us back on track in a major way with another catchy track with a combined riff synth that wouldn't sound out of place on a fighting game soundtrack. I did have a good time with this one.

Another track that was a bit of a miss was "Schwarz = Religion" as the riff sounds eerily similar to Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People" that it was a bit distracting. Aside from that the song just turns out to be a bit flat with a chorus that makes it sound like the band isn't really trying. Probably my least favourite track.

The next couple of tracks do bring the fun back to the room before we hit our second and final ballad "Nadal und Faden" which I loved and is probably my favourite track on the entire record. Another soft, melodic verse before the chorus just kicks you right in the ass and will most likely be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. This is what the earlier ballad was missing, not to mention some notably good guitar work with a killer solo. I feel like this should have been the final track to end things on such an epic note. "Phantom" was a weird one to end things with as it's similar to the other tracks on offer and would have worked better in the middle of the album.

Overall I had a fun time with this album. I do think there could have been maybe a slight bit more variety to spice things up and a couple of tracks definitely could have been cut to better serve the full offering, but there's still a lot of catchy songs here to enjoy and have stuck in your head, and one epic ballad to sing to yourself in the shower. They're certainly not RAMMSTEIN, but they don't need to be.