*The Following Press Release Was Issued By Vlimmer*
Artist: Vlimmer
EP: “XIIIIIIII” (18)
Tags: Post-punk/Darkwave/Dream pop/Electropop/Gothic
FFO: The Cure, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox, Kraftwerk, The Soft Moon, A Place to Bury Strangers, Drab Majesty
Release date: 4 December 2020
Formats: Box set, CD, cassette, download, book
Personnel: Alexander Leonard Donat
Label: Blackjack Illuminist Records
Contact: blackjackilluminist-records@gmx.de
Homepage: blackjackilluministrecords.bandcamp.co
Almost exactly five years ago, Alexander Leonard Donat announced an 18-part series with the first two EPs of his project Vlimmer which back then, was labelled “Darkgaze.” Now, with the release of “XIIIIIIII,” an exciting musical and literary journey of a young man getting lost in between madness and reality finds an end. There is an exciting metamorphosis behind Vlimmer, as well as behind the protagonist Jagmoor Cynewulf – to be read in the book published at the same time, to be heard in a half hour of wave (new/cold/dark), post-punk, dream pop and shoegaze.
In the first few years, it appeared as if Vlimmer was operating out of the catacombs of an obscure laboratory in a centuries-old mansion that lay half-destroyed in the foggy gray-brown wasteland, while over the years, the sound became more and more post-punk, urban, catchy and shimmering. The first four songs of “XIIIIIIII” prove just that, combining dark, dreamy, driving 80s mid-tempo wave and Gothic vibe with 70s horror chic and 90s indie. The interludes repeatedly suggest that the surface is breaking open, threatening to uncover total madness, which is finally accomplished in the 11- minute closer “Kern.” It pulls the rug from under the protagonist’s feet, while life flashes before his eyes. The different states of mind merge and implode. Slide guitar and violins suggest an obituary in the very last minute. Whether the final state is reached, enlightenment is achieved, the cause for his broken being is found – or the “hero” hangs in a state of eternal floating? Nobody can say …
“The great thing about Donat is that he always puts his distinctive mark on it, while the music turns out quite differently.” – De Subjectivisten (NL)
“A chiaroscuro brimmed with cemeterial vocals, a conduit transporting to the seared, perturbed realm of broken feelings and nightmarish circumstances.” – Quaquaversal (UK)
“Vlimmer never stops composing and taking me by surprise.” – Side-Line Magazine (BEL)
