*The Following Press Release Was Issued By Vlimmer*
Band: Vlimmer
Album: “Nebenkörper”
Tags: Darkgaze/Grim Wave/Post-punk/Indie/Industrial
FFO: HEALTH, The Cure, The Soft Moon, A Place To Bury Strangers, Drab Majesty, Slowdive
Release date: 24 September 2021
Formats: Vinyl, Box set, CD, cassette, download
Personnel: Alexander Leonard Donat
Produced by Alexander Leonard Donat
Mastered by Pete Burns
Label: Blackjack Illuminist Records
Dedicated to the end times: Founded in 2015 near Berlin, Vlimmer is a one-man project with a mission to create a bleaker version of shoegaze, kicking off with a double EP entitled “I/II” which belongs to an 18-EP series. To his own surprise, Alexander Donat quickly found himself between the chairs of the darkwave, post-punk and goth scenes instead of shoegaze – which, of course, reveals a lot about the origin of the genre. The plaintive, floating, often dreamy vocals merged with the reverb of the overlapping synthesizers and guitars to create an apocalyptic whole that was driven by constant (often Kraut-infused) rhythms.
Fast forward, January 2021: After the end of the EP series, Donat bans all instruments used on the previous recordings from his studio and starts with a clear vision and new equipment. The dystopian “Nebenkörper” LP pushes hyperactive (tribal) drums – especially toms in all sizes – into the foreground and creates a modern variant of atmospheric wave with now more aggressive vocals and the psychedelic use of the new “Polybrute” synth. In their DNA, the songs have elements of blaring noise rock, clattering industrial, flooding shoegaze and nagging black metal. Years ago, talking about Vlimmer, the Swiss magazine ArtNoir put the fitting term “Grim Wave” into circulation – now, it’s a perfect match. Yet, it’s not everything: The album starts sedately with African drums and hypnotic synth waves that lurk and peek out again and again over the course of the 40 minutes. It’s the permanent premonition of an oncoming storm.
“The striking synth/goth songs on the latest from Vlimmer feel 50 stories tall, with gigantic walls of sound and bleak, ominous vocals.” – Bandcamp (“New & Notable”) (USA)
“One of the great sonic sculptors of our time” – Sounds and Shadows (USA), 2021
“One of the hardest-working and creative men in the business” – GothPostPunkRevivalBlog (SCO), 2021
“We can only thank an act in many ways absolutely unique like Vlimmer” – Darkroom Magazine (ITA), 2020
