Ok, I own up: when it comes to DIARY OF DREAMS I am not objective! In no case. I still like this band which revolves around mastermind Adrian Hates very much, despite all the changes over the last years. Also this second maxi, after O'Brother Sleep, which was released as an appetizer for the upcoming full-length FreaK Perfume won't change anything at all. Freak Perfume is set to see the light on June 6th.

Although, on the face of it you could argue that one new song and three remixes ( here called upgrades ) give not any reason to freak out. On the other hand, it's exactly these old tracks that make this maxi CD so attractive. Approved highlights like Victimized (from the second album End Of Flowers) and Ex-ile ( from the third release Bird Without Wings ) shine in their way more dance-compatible versions in a completely new splendidness. Above all Ex-ile goes directly to your legs and it kills with its tramping beats and this pounds more speed than the original has. So it sounds really like an EBM track. Because in general the EBM part and the wave part balance each other. But also the remix of Butterfly:Dance! from the last album One Of 18 Angels is worked out very well and I even like this version more than the other one you could listen to on some assorted sampler last year.

So what has the only new song to offer? As with the new material on the latterer maxi CD, Amok is surely more melodic. You could almost say, it's more gentle than you might have expected. Nevertheless you can discover sophisticated compositions again with beautiful melodies which dandle you in pleasant melancholie, carried by Adrian Hates' voice. And it's still pretty danceable. Allover the new songs seem to be more straighter than the older ones, but without losing the usual intensity. They just unfold in an other way, more indirect, but at last with the same fascinating impact. Anyway, if these pre-releases don't represent the true strength, then, FreaK Perfume will be the absolute hammer. But until this release you can comfort yourself with this maxi CD ... inevitably.