As guitarist and founder of German metallers Rammstein, Richard Z. Kruspe is no stranger to stadium friendly rock anthemics; someone he indulges in debut solo record EMIGRATE at each and every opportunity.

Almost as if treating the solo record as some kind of release, EMIGRATE is immediately more pop oriented and radio friendly than anything Rammstein have ever done, this a collection of slick pop rock tunes with their roots set firmly in the eighties era of Def Leppard and Gary Numan.

Opener and title track EMIGRATE swiftly sets the mood, a slobbering mass of towering guitar riffs and industrial drum beats; at the heart an anthemic rock tune - and as the chorus kicks in and those melodies soar, it's clear that for all their inherent heaviness Emigrate are at the core a simple pop band.

The Sabbath-esque riffs that open WAKE UP continue things in the same direction, another noisy slab of guitar abuse that hinges on a huge melodic chorus that all manner of screaming and sludge can't hide.  MY WORLD is a more frenetic and fast paced affair, a blink and you'd swear you were listening to Ministry era Psalm 69 industrial rocker.

Shifting into power ballad mode for LET ME BREAK, Emigrate indulge in some typical stadium rock manoeuvres, cigarette lighters at the ready; the band veering between Nickelback and the Deftones with deft skill, however large the clichés.  IN MY TEARS indulges the bands obvious eighties influences, twisted industrial pop that pays homage to Gary Numan and Soft Cell by way of Marilyn Manson and Ministry.  With their sites set on a hit single, NEW YORK CITY finds Emigrate doing their best Interpol impersonations, Kruspe letting out his baritone croon over crashing power chords and rumbling drum patterns.

Elsewhere, RESOLUTION is a middle eastern themed slice of industrial rock, TEMPTATION a mid paced pop rocker and closing number YOU CAN'T GET ENOUGH an epically minded slab of downbeat rock that marries Nickelback and Embrace.

Hardly the most original or inspired of releases, but as a more than decent collection of hard rocking pop songs that manage to hit their marks with pinpoint accuracy, EMIGRATE makes for impressive listening on occasion.

Emigrate is the name of a band led by Richard Z. Kruspe, guitarist and founder of Rammstein. It began as a side-project of Kruspe's in 2005, when Rammstein decided to take a year off from touring and recording. Though, he has told in many interviews, the idea for Emigrate started coming to him around Rammstein's Mutter era.

On September 5, 2006, members of the Rammstein.de newsletter were sent an invitation to the Emigrate newsletter and given the chance to download the song "Wake Up", a sneak peek of the upcoming album. Three song samples were also posted on Emigrate's website: "My World", "Babe" and "Temptation". Fans voted "Babe" as being their favorite, and newsletter recipients were allowed to download "Babe" in its entirety starting November 29, 2006.[1] On May 21, 2007 the Emigrate Official Website opened and "My World" was made available for download, in its entirety, to newsletter subscribers.

The video for My World have been released and can be viewed on the official website. The video will also be included on the limited edition release of the album Emigrate. In addition to the video, My World will be featured on the soundtrack to the third Resident Evil movie, Resident Evil: Extinction. The soundtracks to the previous two movies contained "Hallelujah" and "Mein Teil" from Rammstein, respectively. On July 27, 2007 Richard made an appearance on Bruce Dickinson rock show on BBC.[2] A video for New York City has been released and can be watched on Emigrate.eu

Emigrate>http://www.emigrate.eu/