There are a few types of releases we tend not to write about just because they’re things that don’t make me especially excited to detail. Live albums, compilations, re-recordings, and cover albums really aren’t that exciting to me from a place where I want to devote words and work. It’s not the artists’ fault at all, and there are plenty of good releases from that category worth your time and money. It’s me.
That said, Waldgeflüster’s new EP “Unter bronzenen Kronen” is an exception to that self-imposed rule for a few reasons. First, there is new material here, which is thunderous and weighty, perhaps a sign of where things go next. The covers (one an updated version of their own song) actually add a new sonic understanding to the tracks and aren’t just regurgitated versions. The tracks also provide a glimpse of what led Waldgeflüster to be what it is, important building blocks of inspiration that practically act as musical DNA. Oh, and we love Waldgeflüster, so their records always will get consideration because there’s plenty of content that fires up our hearts. This four-track EP explodes with love and passion for the music and the artists whose tracks get new life, and the band—vocalist Winterherz, guitarists Dominik Frank and Markus Frey, bassist Avagr, drummer Thomas Birkmaier (Nostarion plays
cello on “The Pit”)—delivers repeatedly on an EP that is beefier than most.
The title track begins with a huge melodic gust, shrieks raining down and pelting the ground, everything flush with intense melodies. A sunny and hazy deluge breaks through, Winterherz’s shrieks going for broke, the infectious passion getting into your bloodstream and helping you feel every ounce of the energy. Clean singing works in, bellowing and digging deep into your chest, another massive burst strikes, and everything settles into the cold. “The Pit” is a cover of the Panopticon track from their 2020 split with Aerial Ruin. It’s not the first Panopticon track they’ve covered as they did a version of “Norwegian Nights” on a split with that band, and this one is just a tremendous rendition. It’s one of Austin Lunn’s darker, more self-critical songs, and Waldgefluster handles that with devastation and digging deep into the sentiment of the track, and it’s a spellbinding take, giving the bluegrass-fed song full black metal treatment. “Herbst befiel das Land MMXXIII” is an updated version of a track that appeared on their 2009 full-length debut “Herbstklagen” and it’s full of deeper clean singing, thunderous flooding, and enough emotion to pump your chest full of passion. The track storms and surges, making it feel like a thick nighttime fog is spreading across the land, choking out the lights. Closer “Black Flies” is a cover of the Ben Howard song from his 2011 album “Every Kingdom.” It’s doomy and jolting, adding metallic fire to the piece and adding even more urgency to the line, “No man is an island, oh, this I know, but can’t you see, oh? Or maybe you were the ocean when I was just a stone.” Awesome take.
We tend not to do a lot of covers albums just because so often I find them uninspired or an excuse for a cash grab. But not here. Waldgeflüster always are reliable, and these songs they reinterpret seem like vital parts of their creative canon, pieces that made this band what it is. The new track is a killer too, and this is anything but a stopgap release and more a way to celebrate the past while looking toward their future.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/BlackMetalWaldgefluester
To buy the album, go here: https://shop.aoprecords.de/gb/
For more on the label, go here: http://www.aoprecords.de/
Meat Mead Metal 