Review Summary: “Was zieht her von welken Nächten…? Was zieht her von welken Nächten…?” … wat. Please don't kill me.
That's the opening line to this hypnotic progressive black metal marvel. My spontaneous reaction the first time hearing it was one of confusion and whattheactualfakkisthis. All of a sudden the song breaks into heavy riffing followed by operatic vocals, blast beats and utter abnormality. I'm gradually realizing I'm almost getting a bit anxious and stressed out - it's like the album is dripping with angst and doesn't mind sharing. You never quite know what to expect, there's everything from sudden piano interludes to weird riffs over blast beats in a systematic mess with
Eviga's shrieking vocals up front and that's basically the meat and bones of the album. In spite of this lawless approach on music, the album never gets annoying, boring or leaves the listener disoriented. In fact, I'd actually like to compare it to
Deathspell Omega's most recent trilogy in the sense that instead of putting you off it actually ends up fascinating you and you'll just be wanting more.
Stand out tracks like
Ich Bin Aus Mir,
Schwarz Schaut Tiefsten Lichterglanz,
Eigenwach and
Trauerbrandung showcases the album's strongest qualities. It's catchy chaos, taking the listener on an almost psychedelic trip through angst, bewilderment and aggression. It's still black metal, remember? And
Dornenreich obviously knows the genre and how to simulate it without taking focus from the thing the album relies on – originality and creativity. As recently implied, the vocal performance on this album consists of some sort of vexed, high pitched shrieks assorted by distressing wails and whispers. It's a truly fascinating approach on black metal vocals and vocals in general and really adds to the apprehensive atmosphere that the album so masterfully executes. The drums, like the guitars and arrangements in general are varied and it doesn't even matter that the production is a tad unpolished with murky guitars and the somewhat dry qualities on the production overall. The album also generously serves acoustic guitars, strings, clean (almost operatic) vocals and ambience to break a few patterns here and there which obviously makes for a more pleasurable listening experience.
You're probably thinking I'm lost for words and totally in awe of every single quality the album has to offer, finding no flaws, not even when looking carefully. Which, of course, is not the case at all because like all albums there are flaws and this is one is no exception. Though previously praising it for being varied and different - the album actually gets a bit monotonous (not to be confused with repetitive) at times. The lack of diversity in atmosphere and song characteristics might be a problem for listeners looking for variety and though I personally love the vocals they're immediately disposable if the unique approach doesn't appeal to the listener. Though the use of instruments are varied it's still black metal and you'll probably end up finding the album a tad too bizarre and hard boiled if you're not into that genre. It would also do just fine without
Hier Weht Ein Moment and
Innerwille Ist Mein Docht which in my opinion just ends up slowing the album down, for the worse. I like the idea of an entirely acoustic song on the album but having two of them, neither of which bringing anything new to the table doesn't really appeal to me.
Mein Publikum – Der Augenblick arguably has that same tedious dragging characteristic but is ultimately saved by building up and finishing off with a nicely executed crescendo.
All in all an exciting and interesting album for what it essentially is – black metal. Definitely recommended for curious listeners!
