Klamp – Totaal Techniek | Release Review

Ever wondered what Kraftwerk might sound like if they’d have been lead through guitar and drums? Well you may have to wonder no longer because Klamp are here to lead you through their fever dream come euphoric hazy trip.

Avante Garde, a name which can haunt many listeners, will you get something so pretentious and self serving, made for people to say “look at me I’m interesting and different”? Or will you get something imaginative, inspiring, something that transports you to another place entirely? Thankfully what Klamp have offered up with their sophomore full length release is firmly in the latter category.

Repetition is the key word here, sounds, beats, riffs, you name it it it can be repeated time and time again it will be. Take the opening track, aptly titled ‘The First Song’. At its basic it is the same about 8 second riff repeated for 6 minutes and 20 seconds. It transcends being boring entirely though, so light and ethereal it is it’s become completely hypnotic, you can loose yourself entirely in this lush, shoegazy soundscape. If that wasn’t enough they’ve got the absolute audacity, to completely break it down, only to kick things up a gear for the final minutes of the track, bringing forth this massive beefy riff, low and slow and full of sludgy goodness. It hits unexpectedly breaking you out of the trance that’s been created until suddenly you realise, that’s the same riff, the one that’s been repeating this whole time but turned on its head, dirty and gritty but almost comforting because of how it’s been used previously.

Whilst individual tracks might be repetitive, that’s key to what makes them so intriguing. The album as a whole is far from it. There’s krautrock, there’s shoegaze, there’s industrial, there’s sludge, stoner, electronica, college rock, you name it, it’s in there somewhere and not for a second does this sound confused or lacking in vision. What makes this so captivating is just how seamlessly they weave together such a broad tapestry of sounds without ever losing a sense of cohesion. One moment you’re drifting through blissed-out, My Bloody Valentine-esque textures, the next you’re dropped into a massive groove that feels pulled straight from the Tony Iomi playbook—only to then find yourself knee-deep in crushing, Melvins-style sludge or pulsing, industrial rhythms that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Nine Inch Nails deep cut.

There’s an unpredictability here that never feels jarring—each transition feels deliberate, each genre touchpoint treated with care rather than as a gimmick. It’s this constant evolution that keeps the album fresh from start to finish, a sonic journey that surprises as often as it soothes, all the while anchored by Klamp’s distinctive voice and a commitment to mood and texture above all.

That said, the album’s commitment to its dreamlike, immersive mood can sometimes come at the expense of immediacy. There are moments where you might crave a more distinct vocal hook or a sudden left turn that never quite arrives. The vocals, while atmospheric and fitting, sometimes blur too deeply into the background. But these are small criticisms in the face of what Klamp have achieved here—an ambitious, genre-hopping experience that rewards patience and full immersion.