The Italian band TourdeForce has been active since 2004. The band was set up as a duo, but throughout the years Christian Ryder remain the single member on board. The band released several albums, but never gained a wider recognition. Joining Space Race Records appears to be an opportunity to get a wider distribution.
I was a little bit surprised by the front cover and the booklet illustrations revealing an interest for pictorial arts. One of my favorite paintings representing Arnold Böcklin’s “Die Toteninsel” can be found inside the booklet. So I was really wondering if this symbolic illustration could be an indication of TourdeForce’s sound. It’s hard to say as we all have our own interpretation, but the sound of Ryder clearly sounds inspired by electro-pop, EBM and even new-wave. The opening cut “John Lennon Was A Warmonger” is a confusing title for an EBM-inspired intro-like cut. The next piece moves towards poppier fields with some retro touch. A similar ‘retro’ inspiration comes back on “Kebab Traume”.
This is a beautiful song featuring male vocals and female backings vocals. A similar formula can be heard on “Adolf Hitler Platz”. The titles of the songs are pretty confusing although TourDeForce clearly indicates to be against historical revisionism, holocaust denial and Nazism. The song “Did Six Million Really Die” is another confusing title about the subject, but also a well-crafted and noticeable song. This cut sounds harder as well.
Things get more interesting on “Human Geometries”, which also moves into harder fields. I like the dry snare running through this song and the global danceable format on top of vintage sound arrangements. Another essential piece is “The Time-Music Of Quasars”. You here will discover great astral strings creating an atmospheric body-pop styled cut. It sometimes reminds me of Covenant. The last cut moves into EBM vibes while empowering guitar riffs join in. Last, but not least there also is a kind of hidden cut, which sounds more into EBM as well while the vocals become pretty spooky-like.
Conclusion: I can’t say that “Jedem Das Seine” is a total success but a very pleasant release featuring a few noticeable songs.