Calling yourself “Vampire-Pop” is not a good idea in the slightest. It evokes an image of some teenager trying to switch from a boy band like Westlife to something darker to go with their teen angst as they’ve yet to have lived enough to develop some of the proper stuff. Vampire-Unpop, as in unpopular music, might be a more fitting term, but these guys have situated themselves for better or worse in the goth/industrial scene, which means they’d be hard pressed to call themselves pop of any description.

“Tränenherz (Prologue)” starts off all atmospheric samples on us and “Über Den Horizont” goes all poppy on us unashamed of it’s suspiciously boy/girl band heritage. “The Lost Children” switches to English lyrics and realises that in this scene, you should sound spooky but tries too hard and the lyrics are simple vampire slop but it doesn’t fail the song. “Save Me” tries harder then both, paces itself, and succeeds in being the better song for leaning away from demagoguery and more towards sensibility. “Irgendwann” is a song that would not be a hair out of place at a dance club, almost any dance club for that matter. Even one that hasn’t the vaguest idea of what goth or industrial music is.

“The Watcher” does things by the books while “Ordinary Darkness” breaks ground with female vocals and a sound rather reminiscent of Depeche Mode and the kind of sound produced by European pop bands. “Reich Mir Die Hand” is hatched for the dancefloor and one that DJs might take note of when they want to follow up some Futurepop with something with a more militant beat. Is a much bleaker affair but despite appearing to make a break from its family, shows its colours with more Euro- pop. “Down On My Knees” is a love song that seems to be written for some kind of mainstream pop act saving it over for the soundtrack of Underworld or Hallowe’en (or maybe the Twilight films). “Doomsday” takes a breather and a beer and refreshes itself with some dreary romantic lyrics about the end of the world that the beat fails to capture by a long shot. “Undone” tries to get all deep and soulful which it half succeeds, but on the backdrop of their pop reputation, is something I’m having problems adjusting to.

“The End” comes back on Blutengel form with something that skirts about in the right gear like it’s warming up to dance in a very nice dress, and does pull it all off being what I would and wouldn’t expect from Blutengel at the same time. “Das Andere Ich” is danceable, DJable and not quite forgettable while “Ein Augenblick” is a fine gem that uses piano with synth for an experience that borders neo-classical. “Tränenherz (Outro)” is reminiscent of some Laura Sheeran stuff I’ve heard and finishes far too quickly as it sounds bloody brilliant.

So while there were a few things I wasn’t expecting, there’s plenty your typical Blutengel fan will like, and with three different editions out there, you’re spoilt for choice on how much to spend on the record.