T.Raumschmiere

Berlin’s T.Raumschmiere (aka Marco Haas), one of three Shitkatapult label heads, releases his third album, I Tank U, to some disappointment. Certainly the album proves that T.Raumchmiere knows how to create shifting but interesting walls of electronic noise, driven by oscillating and at times, fragmented beat patterns. And while his Berlin-influenced, filtered techno maintains a presence throughout, most of it is subdued by dissimilar musical styles from too many vocalists — nine in total, a number that even guest enthusiasts Chemical Brothers and U.N.K.L.E. never dared approach. His second misstep is producing an album that clocks in just under 45 minutes. His kind of heavy, sinister stadium punk requires a degree of build-up and immersion, both of which T.Raumschmiere here denies his listeners. The result is that I Tank U comes off as a disparate teaser that hints at future possibilities, perhaps sans guests.