The question with regard to Wumpscut's new effort "Evoke" whirred through the air for a long time. Will Rudy Ratzinger celebrate harsher sounds again or is he continuing the milder direction of the recent past?

The latter is the case. Which means that fans of Rudy's prior 2000 crashing electro phase probably once more will sigh big time. People, who're following Rudy's music for a shorter time period and don't have those back to the roots hopes, or longterm fans who're a bit more open will find a solid release. Not overwhelming, but no disaster either.
Rudy wanted to evolve, and he did that. That`s a necessary thing for a band, and I basically respect and welcome that. How the evolution is finally turning out, that's written on another piece of paper. Rudy went the way he felt comfortable with - painting his tunes with a harmonic colour.
Based on repetitive lyrics, the bulk of the songs is slower paced, with sweet pop melodies, strings or atmospheric areas brought in ("Hold", "Obsessió", "Maiden") and 4 songs with focus on female vocals by Jane M. and Rudy's girlfriend Clara S.
Whilst those kind of tracks have been a smaller part on Rudy's records in his earlier years, they're now flown into the center of it all. In addition, the songs seem not so dark like in the past, the general fragrance is a more brightened one.
If you're looking for some more energetic moments, you've to stick to "Rush" with it's included siren sound, "Churist Churist" with it's artificial language lyrics or "Breathe" with it's provokingly aimed voice samples. Not new in the :W: world, and an ongoing discussion.
What else? With "Tomb" and "Krolok" (including voice samples) you can find some dreamy, a bit monotonous instrumental pieces on the record whilst the creation "Don't Go" offers a vocal interaction between Jane M. and Rudy (clean voice!), some pulsating beats but altogether a smooth flair.
Summarized said, the album only "evokes" an okay impression. There are some fresh and catchy moments and it's technically well done, but the real thrill is missing a bit. Electro must not necessarily be hitting and attacking and speedy all the time, even reserved paced stuff can be intense, heavy or exciting. But this isn't continuously the case on "Evoke". Some more vitamins next time and we'd all be happy.

Tracklist
1-Maiden
2-Churist Churist
3-Don't Go
4-Evoke
5-Tomb
6-Hold
7-Krolok
8-Breathe

9-Rush
10-Perdition
11-Obsessió
12-Churist Churist by Recently Deceased
13-Maiden by Nersoton (vs :W:)