Diorama

This band is on its way to being one of the most popular electronic acts of the dark underground in Germany – Diorama! After a very very successful 2005 they continued being on the road this year and also performed at the Dark Dance Treffen in Lahr.

‘Diorama’ is often wrongly seen as a ‘Diary of Dreams’ side project, due to ‘Diorama’s’ vocalist and mastermind Torben Wendt long-time collaboration with this band. Torben is connected to ‘Diary of Dreams’ as something like a permanent guest. He has taken part in a lot of recordings, productions and concerts. So he has played a significant role in DOD, and both bands have quite a few things in common. Both work a lot with electronics, have a soft spot for haunting atmospheres and deliver excellent, thoughtful lyrics.But since last year ‘Diorama’ really took off and is no longer in the shadow of ‘Diary of Dreams’, who have gained a lot of success over the years. ‘Diorama’ released a total of three albums in 2005, the brand-new and excellent ‘Amaroid’, the remix album ‘Repale’ and the re-release of their debut ‘Pale’. This made them the second most successful album act in the German alternative chart DAC of the year 2005! A support tour for ‘VNV Nation’ opened a whole new audience for them, and a following headliner tour consolidated ‘Diorama’s’ new popularity.

Performance
Despite their very electronic sound of their studio outputs, ‘Diorama’ left the impression that their live line-up is a pretty conventional band setting with drums, guitar, bass, keys and vocals. But fans don’t have to worry – ‘Diorama’ didn’t present a guitar-driven version of their atmospheric Synth sound. I was rather surprised that ‘Diorama’s’ set list was so beat-heavy – probably because I wasn’t too familiar with their latest release at the time of the show…
Despite their dark sound the band members didn’t look like a Goth band at all, rather like the nice guys next door. They obviously don’t care too much about clichés or an image. Something I found quite refreshing. Vocalist Torben was obviously fully into his own music and although his moves on stage seemed a little awkward at times it was impressive how much this guy is living and enjoying his own music. I prefer that much to the calculated and faked image and stage presence which certain other Goth bands offer. As I mentioned, ‘Diorama’ included many upbeat songs in their set, especially towards the end. The crowd thanked them for that and really got ecstatic during the last few songs.
All in all a very refreshing gig - and after the show I decided that I should update my knowledge of ‘Diorama’s’ latest releases, as I’m more familiar with their earlier works. And in fact, ‘Amaroid’ is an album that NO-ONE should miss!

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 9
Light: 7
Total: 8 (7.7)