TAINA is a German Industrial Rock band formed in the year 2010. In 2012 their first EP called "Illusion" came out and this year they are debuting with the album "Seelenfresser", which translated into English means "devourer of souls". An industrial band from Germany will inevitably be compared to RAMMSTEIN and of course one can sense influences of this seminal band. TAINA shares with RAMMSTEIN the straight-forwardness and aggression that come from their punk roots, but the latter band has a much bigger and larger-than-life sound. TAINA are a more conventional rock band than RAMMSTEIN, and use more rock tropes in their music, and the guitar is relatively prominent in their music.

The music is pretty straight-forward and stripped down, so if you are looking for bands with a more Black Metal or Symphonic Metal sound like THE KOVENANT or SAMAEL you won't find these tendencies here. Uncomplicated structures, simple choruses (in case of the title track we have just a one-word chorus), punchy synth riffs and of course some guitar riffage, with both instruments more or less on equal footing throughout the record - one time prominent, another time backing the main melody. The opener "Schrei Nicht" is a straight-forward rocker that has aggression and punch, don't expect any refined riffs, melodies or interplay between instruments. I like the thrashy melodic riff on the next song "Pseudo Gott", the chorus with its simple, driving melody is pretty memorable too. "Teil von mir" has a more industrial, electronica feel to it which is accented by machine-like drumming. The synth arrangements are really good here, you can tell that these guys like their EDM.

"Folge mir" has also this militaristic feeling to it with a RAMMSTEIN-like punchy chorus. The title translates "follow me" and predictably the lyrics are about ideological indoctrination. The somber chorus on "Perfekte Dunklheit" is quite memorable, the use of backing harmonies make it really catchy. The title track is a strong song, the electronica elements are prominent here to the point that it reminds me of THE PRODIGY. Everything is kept brief - the songs and the album, which has eight songs and two EDM remixes (one might see them as bonus material), but it still clocks well under 40 mins. These guys don't have any big musical ambitions, but they are good at what they're doing and "Seelenfresser" has all this kind of record needs to succeed driving melodies, catchy choruses a production that brings out the power and punch. Fans of the genre will enjoy this for sure, and if you are nostalgic for a bygone era when mall-goths roamed the Earth or are down for some good old straight-forward Goth music you won't be disappointed with this one.