Infernal - From Paris To Berlin (2004)

Recording since the late 90s, Infernal (Paw Lagermann and Lina Rafn) created their finest album to date with From Paris To Berlin (originally released in 2004). Their dance creations are some of the best in dance music, combining energetic club vibes with Lina's distinctive, emotive vocals.

The album beings with a bass- and synth-heavy intro, but the party really gets started with the second track - the mighty 'From Paris To Berlin.' Instantly catchy with striking synths, a heavy dance beat, and Lina's strong vocals, this song rightly caught the attention of music fans upon its release as a single. 'I Took A Ride (Fairytale)', a duet with Adam Powers, keeps the party vibe going with dreamy trance-ish synths and a killer chorus.

The wonderfully titled 'Keen on Disco' is all blazing synths and beats and yet another memorable, sing-along chorus. This song also give us the ultra-classy lyric 'the bass is softly pumpin' and caressing my rear'! An interlude leads us into the Latin-tinged 'Cheap Trick Kinda' Girl', which comes complete with cheesy spoken male vocals - a fun little ditty! 'Ultimate Control' doesn't feature Lina on vocals and really doesn't make an impression, unlike the beautiful track which follows - 'Vienna.' It's a delicately produced, bass-heavy trance song that's a throwback to dreamy disco tunes of the 70s.

The tempo is slowed slightly with 'Dressed in Blue', a nice enough track but without the punch packed in the previous tracks. Things are sped back up with 'Careful With The Boys' and 'Deeper Still,' the highlights of the rather patchy last half of the album. 'Bass Driven Music' (an unsurprisingly bass-heavy instrumental), 'Balagan (Hava Nagila)' (a fun song but rather out of place as an album track), 'Banjo Thing' (really, this should have just been left off the album), and the easy-listening-ish closing track 'Sunday Morning March' are all sort of a letdown after the amazing tracks that came before. Most of this is because of the lack of Lina's great vocals.

So if you just kinda skip the last few tracks, you'll have yourself a brilliant dance album. Add in the new tracks from the International Edition of the album and you have a pretty much flawless set of songs. The solo Lina version of 'Fairytale' is better than the duet, in my opinion - it flows better lyrically. 'A To The B' will have you up and dancing, and 'Ten Miles' and 'Peace Inside' will have you feeling all romantic and wistful - but still dancing! 'Loved Like A Maniac' will get lodged in your brain - and you'll love it.

I can't wait to hear what Infernal come up with next! This is one dance duo to keep an ear out for. :)

From Paris To Berlin (2004) (183-320kb/s)
1. Big Ride F*ckers (Intro)
2. From Paris to Berlin
3. I Took a Ride (Fairytale)
4. Keen on Disco
5. Cheap Trick- The Silent Movie (Intro)
6. Cheap Trick Kinda' Girl
7. Ultimate Control
8. Vienna
9. Dressed in Blue
10. Careful with the Boys
11. Deeper Still
12. Bass Driven Music
13. Balagan (Hava Nagila)
14. Banjo Thing
15. Sunday Morning March

New tracks on the International Edition (192kb/s):
1. Fairytale
2. A To The B
3. Ten Miles
5. Peace Inside
11. Loved Like A Maniac

Enjoy! Cheery bye, Scarlett

Infernal - From Paris To Berlin (2004)