Lights of Euphoria: album reviews and ratings

Musicfolio.com

Reviews & Recommendations

There is one darkness that never ends -- Face Yourself - LOE	Lights of Euphoria (Torben Schmidt & Co)

Artist Listing:

S - Z

"Formed in 1993, Lights of Euphoria is the Electro/EBM/Futurepop-project of Torben Schmidt (DJ, A&R, producer & remixer). Over the years, Torben worked with an extensive list of musicians/vocalists who landed their voice to Lights of Euphoria, the more notable of which being the contribution of Jimmy Machon (Godheads) who provided all the vocals on the albums Blood Brothers ('97) and Voices ('99).

Torben has been involved with other electro projects including the industrial-trance Aqualite, and joined lately the live performance team of Suicide Commando.
Lights of Euphoria song remixes include tracks for industrial acts like Leaether Strip, Assemblage 23, Suicide Commando, Absurd Minds, In Strict Confidence, Decoded Feedback, to name a few."

-- musicfolio.com, 6/03

Lights of Euphoria Discography - Album / CD Reviews

1995: Brainstorm aka Thoughtmachine (US version)
Tracklisting: 01 This is the point 02 Brainstorm 03 Give me you 04 Reaching out 05 Energy & Consciousness 06 Misery 07 Sacred 08 Deal in Sex (Birmingham 6 Remix) 09 Ice Machine (Vox Version) 10 Serenade (Splitter) 11 Subjection (Violated) 12 No Tears 13 Face of a god 14 Dead Bodies.

1996: Beyond Subconsciousness
"More robust vocals and song composition are just a few of the elements that Lights of Euphoria have improved upon since their debut album. Extra care and time have been taken in almost every facet of this new release. In as much as this album shares very little in common with older material. Cohesive programming and sequenced loops hilighted by the increased used of string patches lend a polished nature to each track. Gone are the tasteless porn samples, replaced with more appropriate and less identifiable sample material. Lyrically, the vocal work seems to have taken on a more personal approach rather than the nonsensical lyrics of of old. Overall an excellent second album by a band who has shed the initial embrace of the Leaetherstrip school of electro."

-- Sonic Boom Magazine

1997: Fahrenheit aka Blood Brothers (US version)
"Lights of Euphoria is a band that is never satisfied to work long within one particular style of electronic music. Every single release denotes a drastic change in style and this time they have enlisted the aid of guest vocalists from In Strict Confidence and Zodiac 7 as well as performing a cover of Camouflage's Neighbors to prove the point. The use of strings is very pronounced, which is a definite change, and the resulting music has more of a generic trance feel to it in places. Minimalism is also favored, and most tracks are little more than percussion and a bassline, with a total lack of layering. Jimmy Machon also utilizes a totally different vocal style choosing to work without effects and ends up sounding, at times, like Steve from And One. Regardless of the consistent beat structure, this makes for a very mellow release, due to the lack of depth and the human quality of the vocals."

-- Sonic Boom Magazine

1999: Voices
"With a rhythmic quality that strongly hearkens to such well-respected bands as X Marks the Pedwalk and Front 242, Lights of Euphoria's latest release incorporates a heavy beat with a more playful style of sequencing - a mix of heavy and light within a single song. Euphoria's vocals are rough, but completely undistorted and totally legible, which can be a source of distinction in a genre where distortion is often the name of the game."

-- metropolis-records.com

2003: Querschnitt
A fantastic compilation of mostly deleted tracks taken from the 10 year career of Lights Of Euphoria. 'Querschnitt' presents 10 of the most successful and most eagerly searched for Lights Of Euphoria club tracks plus 8 exclusive, previously unreleased new tracks and remixes (including reworked tracks from Leaetherstrip and In Strict Confidence) for a total duration of more than 78 minutes.

-- musicnonstop.co.uk

½ 2003: Krieg gegen die Maschinen
TrackListing: 01 Vorwort 02 True Life 03 Consequence (Face yourself) 04 Nothing at all 05 Interface I 06 Aggression Pact 07 Wings of Time 08 Interface II 09 Fly to Target (Shellshox Remix) 10 Shadows Merging 11 Trapped 12 Dyskonnect 13 Interface III

"With Machon out of the game, Lights of Euphoria is back to being the project of DJ Torben Schmidt responsible for the music, programming and mixing, along with numerous contributing musicians and vocalists from the electro-industrial scene. Gerrit Thomas, mastermind of Funker Vogtand Fictional, gives a helping hand on the tracks True Life, Nothing At All and Wings of Time. True Life, the first single from the album, was written and performed by Rouven Walterowicz of the electro-pop act Endanger. The various remixes of True Life stormed the underground nightclubs and charted at position no 3 in the DAC.
Ronan Harris of VNV Nation is responsible for the lyrics and vocals on Consequence (Face Yourself). Henrik Iversen of NamNamBulu is creditted for lyrics and vocals on Nothing At All, a track reminiscent of The Human League in their heydays. NamNambulu provide also an excellent future-pop remix of True Life available on the limited edition version of this CD. A cooperation with Kay Hartel and Mario Fritzsche of german industrial act DavaNtage produces the track Aggression Pact, a hard hitting industrial crowd-pleaser. Frank D'Angelo of Spine of God lands his gloomy vocals on the track Wings of Time, a slow quivering goth ballad. Fly to Target features Anthony Mather of Aslan Fiction and Tactical Sekt. Shadows Merging is a Lights of Euphoria remix of the Run Level Zero track released in 2001, while Dyskonnect is a God Module song remixed by Torben.
As a whole, 'Krieg gegen die Maschinen' covers the complete spectrum of dark electronic music, from synthpop and future-pop, to industrial and electro-goth, and is a sure winner with fans of the genre. Recommended with no hesitation.
Musicfolio picks: True Life, Shadows Merging, Consequence (Face Yourself), Nothing At All."

-- Said Sukkarieh, musicfolio.com, 6/03

½ 2004: Gegen Den Strom
TrackListing: 01. Was Ware Wenn ? 02. Burning Ground 03. White Wall 04. Liquid Lust (Part I) 05. Leben & Tod 06. You Are (featuring Punto Omega) 07. The Night (Futurezone Club Mix) 08. A Moment Of Past 09. Feel The Pain (featuring In Strict Confidence) 10. One Nation 11. Liquid Lust (Part II) 12. White Wall (State Of The Union Remix)
"Lights of Euphoria have become a real band it seems. While the, excellent, previous CD was a bit inconsistent as a whole, it now all comes across very consistent on this 'Gegen den Strom' release. Vocalist Jimmy Machon has been brought forward some more, which is good. The production is tight and sounds very good. The songs are mostly quite heavy and hard hitting, sometimes leaning towards dark electro, yet with a unique approach, as can be heard in the single ‘One Nation’. In the track ‘You Are’ the dark electro adventure goes even further as this is a collaboration with Punto Omega. Vasi Vallis of Namnambulu is responsible for the production of almost half of the tracks and this proves to be a good addition. It seems like Torben and Vasi really found each other in making music. The best tracks for the dancefloor are ‘Burning Ground’, the fabulous ‘White Wall’, the aforementioned ‘You Are’ , ‘The Night’ that has been turned into a perfect club cracker by Matthias Ewald of Plastic and ofcourse the single release ‘One Nation’. However, there’s also a lot to be found on this cd to enjoy at home because some songs are quite experimental. The title ‘Gegen den Strom’ is easily justified this way since even within the set borders of the well known style elements that are used like (old skool) EBM, dark electro and trance, you will notice surprising sounds, rhythms and sequences. ‘Liquid Lust’ as a original is already quite fascinating, but the remix of Benny Boysen aka Hecq is worth the listening for sure too. ‘Feel the Pain’ on which singer Dennis Osterman of In Strict Confidence has a guest appearance, is another fascinating track with an exciting game of rhythms. Also the introspective ‘A Moment of Past’ is special since it is still very hard hitting although it is a melancholic track. Finally, a remix of ‘White Wall’ by State of the Union ends this excellent Lights of Euphoria release. Lights of Euphoria have shown again with this cd that they belong to the top of the European electro scene. The limited edition of this cd furthermore contains remixes by a.o. Rotersand, Xotox and Glis.

-- Teknoir, Gothtronic.com

______

Recommended Links:

Lights of Euphoria's official site
Metropolis Records' LOE page