Though it's a bit less intentionally noisy than previous
Neubaten material, ½ Mensch is, in a way, the group's masterpiece. The inspired use of such "traditional" instruments as a grand piano alongside the band's characteristic blazing percussion make for a record similar more to their compositional influences like Stockhausen than their nearest contemporaries,
Throbbing Gristle or
Cabaret Voltaire. The record that showed
Einstürzende Neubaten could rise above the concept of noise for its own sake to reach another level of noise-oriented post-punk music, ½ Mensch is an excellent feat of industrial music. ~ John Bush