The eternal struggle for the meaning of life is almost coming to an\u00a0end: In November 2015, Vlimmer released the first two parts of an\u00a0 18-EP instalment that tells the story of a young man trying to find\u00a0 out why he is the damaged person he is. After returning from a\u00a0 disastrous travel back in time he manages to return to the present\u00a0 with a dysfunctional mind. On part 16 (\u201dXIIIIII\u201d) it appears as if the\u00a0 protagonist commits a midnight murder on a jogger, eventually\u00a0 stealing his keys and entering his luxurious top floor apartment\u00a0 where he finally faints. While part 17 \u201cXIIIIIII\u201d depicts an unnerving\u00a0 fever dream where he gets arrested, tried for murder and convicted.\u00a0 It\u2019s a terrifying turmoil where settings blend into one another. The\u00a0 man finds himself on a cot, in a hospital, still at court or in jail. He\u00a0 sees through his own eyes and, at the same time, sees himself\u00a0 through the eyes of people who surround him while he\u2019s convinced\u00a0 that he\u2019s waiting for his beheading.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Vlimmer\u2019s lamenting signature post-punk\/dreamwave is evident from the start (\u201cPerplexit\u00e4t\u201d), on \u201cXIIIIII\u201d (16) the instrumentation offers more aggressive moments of angst scapes (the dystopic \u201cSchwanenhals\u201d, the tunnel of terror on \u201cTaubheit\u201d) to the harshly distorted, noisy shoegaze closer, \u201cKopfkante\u201d, which is about the murder taking place. In between you find Vlimmer\u2019s perhaps best track, the dramatic \u201cLebenswert\u201d – a motoric, skeletal indie\/wave rocker based on a washed out flute loop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cXIIIIIII\u201d (17) takes a different direction, opening with two minimal\u00a0 pieces that are in the vein of downtempo darkwave and nocturnal\u00a0 ambient. \u201cFalter\u201d then picks up speed, and \u201cInsekto\u201d is this EP\u2019s\u00a0 uptempo outbreak switching from psychedelic kraut arpeggios to\u00a0 haunting goth zithers which are disrupted by noisy eruptions. On the\u00a0 depressive \u201cFarbenquell\u201d, finally, colours of all kinds splatter out of\u00a0 the protagonist\u2019s open neck\u2019s stump. Is it over? Not just yet.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n