Rotersand – Welcome To Goodbye

Weird to call this the 'Complete Edition' when it only comes with the single and not also the 'Dare To Live' EP.

I am a fan of Rotersand for many years. I've been to many concerts, I have 30 concerts recorded by fans ( only audience quality, no soundbard). I still Rotersand's wonderful concerts in 2009 as VNV Nation, many great concert on festival... For this album, Rotersand did not release an official live album. That's why I was very surprised by the quality of the concert, I can say very poor. You can see that the material was recorded from the mixing board and that's it. No further mixing, it's hard to listen to.

A masterclass in 21st century alternative electronic music Rotersand's second studio album is a staple for those interested in Future/Industrial Pop and has since become essential listening for those wanting to get into the EBM genre. After the cult classic 'Exterminate Annihilate Destroy' hit the dancefloors it was a foregone conclusion that this trio from were about to drop something big, and with 'Welcome To Goodbye' we certainly weren't disappointed!
From start to finish Rotersand don't hesitate in leaving their mark on the various sub-genres that they had been linked with over the last few years. There is a constant dark mood that washes over the runtime, from it's beat heavy installments 'Dare To Live' & 'Storm' to more subdued numbers like 'By The Waters'. However there are moments of levity with the likes of the quirky 'Would You Buy This?' which features a bunch of wild & weird questions laid out to the listener, not as a call & response but more to give off a puckish nature that proves that the group do indeed have a sense of humour.
A lot more could be said about this landmark release, it's technical wonders and the fabulous hooks, but it would be easier to instead listen to it for yourself and see what all the fuss is about!

Possibly the most important futurepop release ever!

Anyone with the habit of dismissing anything with the label "futurepop" should go on reading, though - Because this is a record that truly challenges the boundaries of the term.
In its basics, this is an EBM album mostly build on structures from pop music, with influences ranging from trance to synthpop. But unlike your average VNV Nation clone, Rotersand manages to fill the album to its brim with unique and varied tunes, where every single tracks stands out.

With Rotersand, nothing is left to chance. Every single little detail in the sound (and that's a lot!) has been cared for until it sounds exactly like it's supposed to, the songs are all catchy without relying on weak clichés, the vocals are rock solid, and the beats are of the EBM-patented stompy kind that's bound to move the dance floor, as everyone sings along to easy lyrics like "Exterminate! Annihilate! Destroy!" or "Send the last ship home!". Not a single crack can be found in Rotersand's rock solid surface.

Among pop songs like "Undone" and "Send the Last Ship Home", and anthems such as "Dare to Live", the band have spiced the album with ballads that are almost accoustic in their sound (compared to the rest of the album anyway), as well as the bouncy electroclash track "Would you buy this?", and the instrumental and aggressive, tribal industrial opus that is "Storm"

It's hard to find a favourite track when they are all so good, but "Storm" is a definite floor filler, that always makes people curious to hear more from the band.
All in all an excellent album, that tops the similarly excellent predecessor "Truth if Fanatic" in of originality and production.

Do you like VNV Nation, Icon of Coil, Covenant or Apoptygma Berzerk? If yes, then you'll love this album.
If no, then you should check it out anyway, because Rotersand manages to take futurepop to a much more serious level, without ruining any of the fun.

Absolutely fantastic Rotersand release. Welcome to Goodbye showed that the band wasn't just another generic synthpop group, floating in the stagnated waters of modern electronic music. Thus instead of regurgitating the exhausted formula, the band moved closer towards the sound mastered by electro groups such as SITD, Covenant, VNV, Icon of Coil, and the like. By this i mean that the new sound is much harder and even quite dark at times, but avoides breaching into the "terror-ebm" style. Instead, the vocals are clean and beautifully sung; the beats are pounding and dancy; the hooks are plentiful and the choruses are extra-catchy. The emotion that bleeds through on tracks like "Dare to Live", "Almost Wasted", "By the Waters", "Undone", and "Alive" still make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, while pounding, deadly tracks like "Storm" and "Exterminate Annihilate Destroy" make you want to get up and stomp around like a good little rivethead. Regardless, 80% of the tracks would do quite well in clubs, as well as over a good pair of headphones on a rainy day. There is a little bit of filler on the album though, but i don't think it really detracts from the quality. These songs would include "The Last Ship (Pt 2)," "Would You Buy This?," and "Angels Falling" (though with regards to the latter, i have never been a fan of short instrumental tracks found on synthpop albums, with or without vocals - e.g. VNV Nation).

So to conclude, this is a brilliant record in which a broad spectrum of industrial fans should find interest. This is especially true if you are a fan of any of the bands i have mentioned throughout this review.