"Beside their unique look (which quickly became a trademark) STAHLMANN also present their best songwriting and arrangements on CO₂ so far. It is not too different from their previous works, but it shows a matured band that is able to put together an album full of hits. In addition to the typical powerful musical style, catchy lyrics and Marts deep, distinctive voice, you can also find electrical and dubstep elements that will make the audience dance in the clubs again". Well, at least that's how STAHLMANN's fourth album, CO₂ was presented to me by their label AFM Records. It conjures up images of a band with a complex and unique sound, doesn't it?

My friend, you are wrong! It's simply a shameless copy of RAMMSTEIN's sound. This goes far beyond just an influence. It's in every aspect - lyrics in German, electronic dubstep, low voice with laden accent, heavy guitars and dance rhythm instrumentals. The ONLY things that are different are the line-up and appearance.

I don't know what more to say about the band and their sound, because it'll just get repetitive. I'll compare it all the time with Till Lindemann and his band. Are STAHLMANN a bad band with a low quality music and production? No, they're not. Would their songs please the genre fans? Yes, they will. Are they talented musicians? Yes, they are. But they're the same as RAMMSTEIN in every one of their songs. And it's very, very bad. However, there are a few highlights on the album - for those who can remember the band - like "Plasma", "Deutschland tanzt", "Spiegelbild" and "Wenn Engel tanzen". It's hard to make commercially viable music using German lyrics - although RAMMSTEIN have done it since 1998 - but I believe STAHLMANN could find another formula to reach this goal.

I'm always put off by a band's lack of creativity. It's normal that some songs remind you of other bands. But in the case of CO₂, unfortunately isn't not an influence. It's a copy.