Okay, I'm almost certain this is the last Werkstatt Recordings item I have left to review. I've gone through my backlog, and am positive nothing's among the 'B' albums. I don't want to say this will definitively close the door on my coverage of Toxic Razor's print, because there's some chance another release from there will catch my eye (always the eye before the ear with Werkstatt). No more thematic bulk buys though, nosiree, bobski. Finally, I can say I'm closing the book on this odd chapter of my blog's history, wherein the promise of more synthwave than I could shake a Yamaha DX7 at was there for the taking (also: sweet stickers).
Arrival Of The Stalkers is as fitting a cap on my Werkstatt saga as any, a release that seems to encapsulate what I initially found so darn cool about the label, but eventually worn down by too. It's got the striking cover art, in this case a Judge Dredd future-shock depiction, though set in bright neo-Tokyo rather than the grimdark slums of the original comic – always what is thought represented that decade, not what was. However, Timestalker is mostly a Discoggian blank, though at least has a follow-up album listed and a Bandcamp link leading to a couple more releases. It looks as though he's developed a tidy if small career for himself, which is more than can be said for nearly half the Werkstatt alum I've thus far covered. And if the Bandcampian algorithm is suggesting GosT in association with your music, you must be doing something right.
The titular opener also perfectly hits all those tasty attributes my enjoyment of synthwave craves. The 'ripped from a Cannon Film Group newscast' sample, the crunchy darksynth low-ends, the bright, ear-wormy synth leads, and ooh, some added string pads at the peaks. It's nothing I haven't heard before from this genre, but it does it exactly the way I like it, which is the least I ever ask for in the music I like.
Follow-up track Rise Of The Pariah hints at another winner, with that good ol' Carpenter influence going in the rhythm. Unfortunately, the bright lead synths accompanying the tough low-end is a serious clash of tones, and the tune struggles to coalesce into anything memorable. Outbreak Of Evil suffers for this too, a strong opening of aggressive darksynth ideas, undone by a clashing lead synth; also, whoof, that keychange. And did I ever want to like Ultra-Violence, getting in on that outrun Perturbator stylee, if only the chirping synths meshed better.
And that sums up my experience with much of Werkstatt's catalogue, don't it? Excitable initial lure, a tune or two that captures my fancy, but a bunch of niggling things that reminds me there's a lot of amateur producers still finding their feet. Still, I'll always give the label credit for giving these aspiring musicians an opportunity, some of whom have gone onto bigger careers. Gotta' start somewhere.
