PRESS

"One-man project Vlimmer exists in the borderlands between post-punk and industrial/EBM, creating danceable darkness." - Bandcamp (New and Notable) (USA)

"Again, easily outclasses genre-related stuff" - Legacy (GER)

"Probably one of the most original musicians in the scene right now, crafting a unique and immediately identifiable sound, thanks mostly to fantastic vocal oddities, regardless of what genre he chooses to transform. What’s amazing is how he creates such effortless hooks when it’s obvious he doesn’t give a damn whether or not his music appeals to popular audiences. “Schädelhitze” is everything I like about a dancefloor track: easy to move to but so off-the-beaten-path that it doesn’t get lost in a mix." - Pat626.com (USA)

"#15 best albums 2022 - Darkwave 2.0, roaring and terrifying" - Twice Magazine (FRA)

"Even "Nebenkörper" which already had breathtaking moments didn't hint on the musical hurricane he unleashes with the follow-up, [...] the wonderful amalgamation of post-punk, electronics and melancholic avant-garde and his unusual subjects. [...] The compositions seem a bit lighter compared to the predecessor. Its catchiness, like a shy deer, is particularly apparent in the shimmering, drunkenly synthetic arpeggios of "Zielzweifel". [...] His lavish wealth of ideas calls for close listening, because in four minutes of playing time he manages to incorporate more highlights into an entire album than many other musicians. in one album." - Unter.Ton (GER)

"8/10 - In top form, also vocally, he realizes the most effective and compact work of his projects with talent and potential, anything but common. [...] The new effort is no exception. [It contains] many possible dark-colored "hits", starting from an intense initial triptych (the pressing "Erdgeruch", the swirling "Mathematik" and the tight "Zielzweifel) [...] Alexander does not set limits, giving his best with the fascinating dry and elegant EBM of "Noposition" and with the splendid atmospheres dark shades of "Schädelhitze", an elegant jewel played on persuasive synths and seductive rhythms." - Darkroom Magazine (ITA)

"This man is a true synth wizard! [...] A multiplicity of inspiration that goes beyond the darkwave style [...] light years away from boredom." - Ver Sacrum (ITA)

"9/10 - Subjectively, "Menschenleere" is Vlimmer's most varied and best release to date. [...] The lyrics are masters anyway. [...] Who would have thought that Alexander Leonard Donat aka VLIMMER would partially release himself from his dark electronic darkwave hell and has now partially arrived in the world of Drangsal and Levin goes lightly. VLIMMER has left the apocalypse a little behind, but without letting the pressure out of the cauldron, because “Menschenleere” is a musical stroboscope thunderstorm." - Ox Fanzine (GER)

"'Through a funhouse darkly' takes on post-punk and darkwave [...] Vlimmer remains in a universe all its own. [...] The careening, carefree melodies of “Zielzweifel”, the synth-punk nightmare of “Mathematik”, and the sleek club-friendly lope of “Schädelhitze” all zip past within a twenty minute span, each with radically different energy yet linked by the idiosyncrasies of the project. [...] Menschenleere finds Vlimmer hammering out such a distinctive space for itself" - I Die: You Die (CAN)

"Astonishing [...] perfect dark disco wave for the third millenium.- Dark Divine Music (FRA)

"9/10 - To be honest, I get chills down my spine every time I hear this record. In its conception, it's a musical horror film. - Soundmagnet (GER)

"The album is indicative of the current attitudes of taking revivalism toward a new evolutionary path, [it] juxtapose[s] varying levels of industrial and gothic production values with an almost perverse sense of anxiety and tension. "Menschenleere' is wrought with elements of sonic intrigue that make for quite a listening experience. Striking is the nonlinear nature of his compositions – ironically catchy while also deviating from the standard verse/chorus formula." - ReGen Magazine (USA)

"Darkwave Disco For The Twilight Hours. Menschenleere soundtracks the dark times we live in with dark music [on] this new dusky longplayer with gloomy synth symphonies, somber vibrations, ominous orchestrations and melodramatic vocality. The good news is you can dance to most of the songs, maybe not with a smile on your face, but at least with some hope that one day we’ll finally learn how to survive." - Turn Up The Volume (BEL)

"Beautiful, fragile and ashened songs to drink, dance to, and watch the moon." - Onyx Music Reviews (AUS)

"One of the more original and most underrated artists in the scene at the moment. [...] What is immediately striking is that “Menschenleere” [...] sounds danceable in a sense. [...] After several listens and reaching into certain musical depths, the extensive sound spectrum will really get through to you." - Dark Entries (BEL)

"Brilliant album [...] Although his sound is very recognizable, the interpretation is always subject to change. Like a dark cloud, the music keeps changing shape, sometimes subtle and at other times a bit more robust. Here some light breaks through that dark cloud, which translates into more uptempo and more energetic songs. The music may sound more urgent than ever [...] a cross between melancholy, anger, despair and hope. Think of a kaleidoscopic mix of The Cure, Modern English, Clan Of Xymox, Front 242, Wumpscut, Ringo Deathstarr and O.M.D. - it should be noted that Vlimmer mainly sounds like himself. Not a difficult one, but a really strong second album!" - De Subjectivisten (NED)

"Everything but pop. This is a very interesting album, [...] dark and atmospheric, with a whole range of styles from post punk to dark wave to synth pop as well as noise and industrial. With song lengths between four and five minutes, Donat takes his time to develop and implement his musical ideas. He consciously relies on rough edges and always remains a bit unwieldy, which is what makes his music so interesting." - Schwarzes Bayern (GER)

"Vlimmer remains an extremely prolific artist however never totally repeating himself [...] passages are reminding me of legendary bands from the 4AD roster. Alexander Donat clearly is an accomplished musician. The songs are well-crafted and elaborated." - Side-Line Magazine (BEL)

"The state of limbo is set to music with electronic sounds which are always danceable but in a more compulsively twitching way than liberating and free-spirited. [...] Despite the emotional heaviness that arises from the melancholic undertone, there is a diffuse feeling of lightness, perhaps defiance. The beat, the melodies, it all makes you want to dance. It doesn't matter whether the rainy night lays its veil over the city or the dawn fights with the night: There is freedom in dance, the expression of a longing that has eaten its way into the battered heart for far too long and now finally has to come out." - musikreviews.de (GER)

"... in dark shoegaze realms with a few excursions into post-punk and industrial." - Visions (GER)

"I very rarely listen to goth music anymore [...] but I must admit to enjoying this album; an album of darkness with a slight pop edge at times reminding me of the Sisters Of Mercy being covered by A-ha – can you imagine how much better the Sisters Of Mercy would have been with Morten Hacket singing lead? This album will be up so many old goths streets they will be breaking out their velvet trousers and hairspray in a second of hearing the first doom laden chord. If it is possible to have an enjoyable romp through darkwave or whatever the pesky kids are calling it this week, then Vlimmer is indeed your man." - Monolith Cocktail (USA)

"I love the little sound games that Vlimmer plays bending tones and implying key changes that never happen. These sonic choices get my mind bending and prepare me for a climax that never perfectly climbs. [...] I can hear the fun that the composer puts into this. It's a pretty, powerful collection of songs filled with these little triks and easter eggs.
"This is the cyber punk future that we were assured of, but there is a darker, sinister quality to it now. The vocals float beautifully throughout, they plead and even scream but always with melodicism." - Issues Magazine (USA)

"Busy act Vlimmer has released his latest album “Menschenleere” which comes up with a dark mixture of cold and dark wave. On the other hand, the song “Zielzweifel” shimmers almost pop-like with its anarchic energy reminiscent of NDW bands like GRAUZONE and new epigones like Edwin Rosen. Minimal synth sounds also ensure a cool and sparse bedroom pop feeling à la Molly Nilsson, Molchat Doma or Lebanon Hanover." - Tonspion (GER)

"On his new album, Menschenleere, he has also added a dancing component. The result is evocative, dense and dramatic club music that should appeal to most people who have Joy Division and DAF on their record shelf." - Zero Magazine (SWE)

"German darkwave/post-punk act released a storming and claustrophobic LP last year, and look to be following that up with something slightly more spacious in the form of Menschenleere. There’s still plenty of the chilly, windswept atmosphere which first got us into the project on tunes like [Noposition], but there’s a clear tilt towards more dancefloor friendly sounds, which might fit nicely between Henric de la Cour and Karger Traum in a tasteful DJ set." - I Die: You Die (CAN)

"[G]othic rave party nightmare. Just when things get too creepy for me, Donat throws the rudder sideways again, sounding like an 80s worshipping pop act echoing Aha, or Dead or Alive, but in German of course." - Weirdo Shrine (NED)

"8/10 - I enjoyed Menschenleere, it is an album that felt cold and dark, but is emotive with it, less an album of anger, more one that had a feel of reflective regret to the sound. Most tracks are full of eighties sounding synth, something which always appeals to me. There also felt like a lot of emotion to the songs, [...] such as with third track Zielzweifel that sounded to my ears like [...] a road trip montage in a post-apocalyptic movie. [...] The album opens on Erdgeruch, a pulsating eighties synth opener that sets the tone for the rest to follow. It leads into the wonderfully discordant Mathematik that has a goth-dance vibe to it. [...] Noposition is a prime example of the more heavy industrial side, while follow up track Schädelhitze is a good example of the more airy dancey style, with a hauntingly chilled feel to it." - The Rotting Zombie (UK)

"8/10 - Icy cold waves run down your back. I look at the shoes and wait for the next wave. No alternatives in sight, dreams long since over. Waves come, waves go, and humanity still exists. [Vlimmer] starts the next cold shower so that feet can tap and shake. After the 2021 debut 'Nebenkörper', as a prelude to the apocalypse, now comes the dance on the cold, seething volcano. 'Menschenleere' catches your ear, has the cool showers in turquoise bags and asks endless questions. [...] It has become cold. Freezing."- Saitenkult (GER)

"Vlimmer has been making music for long enough now that it's easy to listen tojust hear a sound which reminds me of Vlimmer. With synths, "Menschenleere" can be something you want to get up and dance to. [...] "Schwimmhand" starts with some fast paced beats and heavenly synth tones. This is the perfect combination of what I think of when I hear Vlimmer- that way you can get up and dance but also just feeling a bit serious, like something that when it comes on you have to give it your full attention." - Raised By Cassettes (USA)

"Adventurously, the Berlin artist mixes dream pop sounds and spices them up with hard industrial and punk rigour. 'Menschenleere' is multi-layered and original" - Orkus! (GER)

"Menschenleere" and says, "As in the previous album, we find a work that is not easy to classify [...] The eleven compositions that we can find in this Menschenleere keep mutating, surprising the listener with each new twist and Leonard manages to switch from joy to rage from one verse to the next, always with a certain melancholy hovering over the whole album." - El Garaje De Frank (SPA)

"Beautiful compounds such as "Schädelhitze" (Skull Heat), "Zielzweifel" (Goal Doubt) or "Schwimmhand" (Swimming Hand) invite you to linger. You don't need black nail polish for this Cold Wave Post Punk Gothic mix by Vlimmer, but when you're desperately pondering the existence and meaning of it all, it looks more believable - and that way you can't see the dirt under your fingernails from digging in the cemetery." - Manierenversagen (GER)

"Opens slowly [...] bursts into life [...] some very 80's soundtrack sci-fi synths with a more modern beat [...] dislocated dance elements [...] gauzy synths with yearning vocals and goth slow dancefloor intent [...] swirls of synths [...] icy breakdown that gives way to distressed beats, a growing sense of despair [...] goth soundtrack to another dark crime film [...] perfect for your next Goth pool party [...] gorgeous dark elegy slowly unfurl [...] slow thoughtful stark dark wave [...] pristine keys and rising once more from the ashes." - Whisperin' & Hollerin' (IRE)

"Elegantly dark, the 80s in top form. powerful and at times challenging" - Rock Fueguino (ARG)

"[D]oesn't shy away from anything. On "Menschenleere" Vlimmer brings together different musical levels such as post-punk, new wave and other danceable, electronic ones, firmly rooted in gothic soil. Tracks like "Erdgeruch", "Schädelhitze" and "Fatigo" provide plenty of material to indulge in the sound and switch off your head." - Sonic Seducer (GER)



ENGLISH:
Humanity abolishes itself and Vlimmer wonders what comes after. The Berlin one-man project by Alexander Leonard Donat has always had a knack for questions of this kind. In his 18-part EP series (2015-2020), the individual and his slow dissolution between reality and delusion were the focus of his gloomy shoegaze/darkwave/goth compositions, the debut album "Nebenkörper" (2021) came up with apocalyptic darkgaze/industrial and hit the listener with incredibly dense, atmospheric, sometimes unusually aggressive songs about inner turmoil and the desire for parallel existences.
The second album "Menschenleere" now lets some light shoot through the dark red sky and makes it clear from the start: On the first songs Vlimmer steps out of the fog full of energy, plays with open cards and stands with one and a half feet on the dance floor: "Erdgeruch" is straight industrial, "Mathematik" offers rumbling post-punk panic, "Zielzweifel" delves in catchy Wavepop, and "Noposition" hits you in the face with its four-to-the-floor EBM. Melancholy to angry, Donat documents which interpersonal barriers have arisen in recent years or have always existed. He also indicates repeatedly that one simply cannot understand oneself. Can man at all master his situation if he repeats the mistakes of the past? Is a "deserted” planet freed from humanity (“Menschenleere”) the only logical consequence?

DEUTSCH:
Die Menschheit schafft sich selbst ab und Vlimmer fragt sich, was danach kommt. Das Berliner Ein-Mann-Projekt von Alexander Leonard Donat hatte schon immer ein Faible für Fragen dieser Art. Stand in der 18-teiligen EP-Serie (2015-2020) das Individuum und seine langsame Auflösung zwischen Realität und Wahn im Mittelpunkt der düsteren Shoegaze/Darkwave/Goth-Kompositionen, so wartete das Debütalbum "Nebenkörper" (2021) mit apokalyptischem Darkgaze/Industrial auf und erschlug den Hörer mit ungeheuer dichten, atmosphärischen, teils ungewöhnlich aggressiven Songs über die innere Zerrissenheit und den Wunsch nach Parallelexistenzen.
Das zweite Album "Menschenleere" lässt nun etwas Licht durch den dunkelroten Himmel schießen und macht von Anfang an klar: Vlimmer tritt voller Tatendrang aus dem Nebel, spielt mit offenen Karten und steht mit dem Eröffnungsquartett direkt mit anderthalb Beinen auf dem Dancefloor: "Erdgeruch" ist straighter Industrial, "Mathematik" polternde Post-Punk-Panik, "Zielzweifel" catchy Wavepop und "Noposition" offensiver four-to-the-floor EBM. Melancholisch bis wütend dokumentiert Donat dabei, welche zwischenmenschlichen Barrieren in den letzten Jahren entstanden oder schon immer existent waren. Dabei zeigt sich wiederholt auch, dass man sich selbst einfach nicht begreifen kann. Kann der Mensch überhaupt Herr seiner Lage werden, wenn er die Fehler der Vergangenheit wiederholt? Ist ein von der Menschheit befreiter, "menschenleerer" Planet die einzig logische Konsequenz?