Review Summary: Quality depressive atmospheric black metal from Germany.
Vargnatt is a depressive, atmospheric one-man black metal band, started in 2006 by Evae in Germany. If you’re a fan of that type of black metal, it’s worth a listen; otherwise, it may come off as generic and boring.
“Nur Ein Traum” is the band’s second release. The opening track, “Seelensang”, has a very explicit influence from Burzum. The rasping, soul-wrenching tortured vocals are very much in the style of Burzum. Additionally is the repetitiveness, a trademark style of Burzum’s. However, this isn’t another imitation band just trying to hop on the atmospheric black metal bandwagon. Moments hint at some genuine tortured atmosphere trying to be conveyed in this music, such as the abrupt pace changing to slow, dark acoustic moments just when it threatens to be nothing unique in the midst of its typical slow trudging, repetitive passages and typical harsh black metal vocals. It is moments like those in which the pace takes on new life that Vargnatt convinces of the band’s sincerity.
The album then proceeds into “Portrain Einer Nacht”, my favourite song of theirs for its immersing melancholy. Although the lyrics are unfortunately all in German and indecipherable, lyrics aren’t what I look for in black metal. It’s not even one of the features I look for. If I discover that a great song happens to also possess lyrical beauty, I count it a happy bonus, but I typically rely on the vocals themselves not simply to be a transmitter of the lyrical content but to be emotive enough to render that content in the delivery itself. Vargnatt lives up to this. The rasping screeched vocals and pounding of drums and other harsh instrumentation cease every now and again in a hallowed respect to a haunting melodic beauty of an interlude that cements this song as my favourite.
Wailing in in a higher key is the third track, “Vom Suchen Der Hölle”, which almost immediately after the intro breaks off in a trance-like melody, and it is this very ethereal, dream-like quality that differs it from being a repeat of the technique used in the track before it. Drums are more muted in this song and all other sounds pause for a moment again for another clean melodic plucking which is beautifully sustained for a short while as the rasping and drumming regain. The production level is the type of atmospheric black metal I much prefer to that of bands like Xasthur, wherein the instruments are so drowned in noise, it’s near impossible to discern anything, far less appreciate it.
Many atmospheric black metal bands, Fen for example, rely on generic imitation of the genre without leaving the impression of what atmosphere they’re actually trying to convey. Technically, it sounds like good music, but it doesn’t do much personally and in the end you’re not sure what the point of the song was. Vargnatt is not one of those bands, but one that seems to embody a sincere atmosphere of DSBM. Thankfully, also, the songs are for the most part relatively short for the genre, although they do drag at times.
Additionally, what endows this album with even more melancholic beauty is a couple of instrumentals mixed in, one which ends the album—“Welk”. At a simple two minutes that seems to end too early, it’s exactly the kind of metal instrumental I’m a sucker for, the acoustic type that show how beautiful metal can be. It builds upon Vargnatt’s dreamy-like melody with an addition of an outdoorsy rainy mood in the background.
Vargnatt aren’t that revolutionary of a band, they don’t push the boundaries of their genre to any extremities, but they are still worth a listen.
