English Version: The third (one CD, one CD Single) release from this Ravensburg band is described in its accompanying material as a mixture of Gothic Rock and Nu Metal. I had to be sure point this out, just in case Nu Metal (the description of unexceptional fools like Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park) is replaced by straight guitar riffs. The sound is that of a dark female timbre, whose emotion filled vocals lie on top of a light yet aggressive sound. The guitar is often reminiscent of The Mission (the beginning of "Sunlight" for example). However the best track is "Stuck to the Ground" which peaks in its bewitching chorus, so that it grabs on hard and won't let go. The songs demonstrate clever song writing bouncing between quiet and deeply melancholic moments and powerful Gothic rock. The use of the Krummhorn and Violin (I already had something in mind from Castlerock 2001) lends a bit of Folk touch. Discreet interspersed use of gloomy male background vocals help lead singer Martina's vocals achieve their best. This four track EP definitely creates anticipation for the soon to be released CD "Sliver." Fans of Within Temptation or Xandria can pick this CD up without thinking twice about it.

English Version: So, we meet again. Three years ago, at the end of '99, I saw the band for the first time as the opener for LETZTEN INSTANZ, and afterwards, they fell off the radar screen. "Sunlight" happily brings signs of a pulse because I remembered the four as worth hearing. And yet it's now somehow different. "Sunlight" sounds much more organic than the previous sample-and-drum-machine oriented set. They call their music Nu Gothic and want to be understood as a mixture of Gothic and Nu Metal. I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but I'll chalk one up to the band anyhow, because they aren't following the standard Nu Metal trend of Rap vocals with how-low-can-it-go guitars in tow. They bring wonderful melodies, don't forget the heavy riffs, offer a pleasant female voice, and the drums make the thing danceable. So, maybe, yeah, it really is the New School of Gothic Metal, since they aren't really relying on the same old crusty cliches. Revolutionary, "Sunlight' is not. But listenable, not too heavy modern Goth/Metal/Rock in comparison to the current faster, harder, louder movement could really be a trump card. What I really remembered from before was the violin, and here in Year 2003 we find that the violin isn't playing such a big role anymore. They sound tighter, less showy, perhaps for that reason more mature. And they certainly create anticipation for the forthcoming album!

Three years after the debut wooDLawn re-announces itself with the Promo-CD "Sunlight" which is exclusively available at their concerts. Containing four mature individual songs, from which one can clearly see a positive developmental progression in the band. In the year 2003, wooDLawn plays "Nu Gothic" a mixture of Gothic Rock, a dash of Nu Metal and the bittersweet female vocals that one could hear from the debut album. The band has in the meantime developed their own sound and gotten the individual instruments to harmonize much better. One notices right away that the members of wooDLawn play much better together. This is completely obvious with the development of the songs "Fortune" and "She Couldn't Fade Away" which were completely newly rearranged and recorded for "Sunlight." The Result: wooDLawn is a very special, hopeful, and innovative band, that in the future will surely spring one or more surprises on us. I'm can't wait for the forthcoming full length album, which is planned for a Spring 2004 release and to be called "Sliver." "See the Sunlight In My Eyes!!!"

English Version: "Please, what is NU GOTHIC?" Bert and I asked ourselves, when we got wooDLawn's new CD-Single and the Promo material in our hands. I guessed right away about a style related to Nu Metal and found that I wasn't completely wrong. WooDLawn describes their music as across-genre between Gothic Rock and Nu Metal, with a electronic elements thrown in. Why they would identify themselves with Nu Metal isn't entirely clear to me. WooDLawn is named after an Irish village that has a special meaning for the band. I read that for the first time in Gothic Magazine Nr. 31, whose accompanying Compilation Part XI included WooDLawn's fabulous mystical/opressive song "In My Brain." The intentional mixture of melodic Gothic, fat guitars, and the spell-binding voice of Martina Braig rocked me right away. In the meantime, the quartet (after their debut in September 2000 and a CD-Single) have released their newest 4 song EP. The title song "Sunlight" dances between a powerful yet dreamy melancholic sound with airy synth elements and fat metal riffs (I will say nothing about Nu Metal here, regardless!) WooDLawn's strength is doubtless Martina's voice - angelic yet gloomily powerful - singing the songs with a powerful devotion, and pushing with the fullness of her range. Comparison with divas like Gitane Demone or Karne King from Killing Orphelia or Sonja Roeder from Non Ompos Mentis jump right at me. The three other songs, (it's great that this CD-Single has four different songs, and finally here's one that leaves out the unnecessary remixes) come across as melodic, experimental, and multi-stylisitic. Furthermore, one can hear in places that the Folk-Rock/-Metal elements that have been a part of the nearly 10 years that this outfit has been together. 10 years, by the way, during which wooDLawn has experimented, toured through Europe (including WGT and Herbstnaechte) and endured a couple of personnel changes. wooDLawn makes music that comes from the souls of the band members and finds it's way into the hearts of the listener. And when wooDLawn brings the violin and the time-honored krummhorn into the picture, don't even think about putting them in the same category as the irrelevant Folk-Mittlealter-Rock. WooDLawn is creative, multi-fascited, honest and direct, with a knack for - as they say themselves - bittersweet, melancholic Gothic-Metal. I'm already happy, at any rate, that there will be a second LP, "Sliver" which the band is currently working on. However I'm still not coming to terms with the moniker Nu Gothic. Perhaps there will soon be Nu Pop (the era after Future Pop???); a Neo-Pop Sampler is already available in the music stores......

English Version: "This band has already been at it for a while." The quote is from Woodlawn, one of the bands in the encompassing Goth scene. And don't you know, the band has played 200 gigs, was at the Wave Gothic Treff, played Castlerock, and does very well with the crowds. This line-up was founded in 2002, and delivers a mixture of Gothic and Nu-Metal. Yeah, that's what I thought! Gothic and Nu Metal?? What's up with that? You don't really think about it too long, because right after you put the CD "Sunlight" into the CD Player, and you hear the first sounds from the same-titled track, you're in another world. The sad, rich voice of Martina soars and lets loose a catchy earworm in the chorus--"Shining on me, sunlight in my eyes." It's tough to get it out of your head. I've gotten the feeling that this is the CD Flowing Tears would have made if they had shifted "Jade" into maximum overdrive. What's really fascinating is that this voice, that so cleanly conveys human emotion, is supported by heavy guitar riffs. It's especially noticeable with "Stuck to the Ground." The last track of the way-too-short EP is "She." which probably fits this Nu Gothic style the best--moving guitar riffs with dark synthesizer sounds. That's got to be it..Nugothic. But it doesn't have so much to do with genre naming, and this "Shining on Me"... will not get out of my head. Those who dig earworms and gothic guitar riffs absolutely must get this EP. And it's just occurred to me that I have to hit the Replay button and hear "Sunlight" one more time!