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/:: Artist :: Der Weg Einer Freiheit ::\
:: Album :: Stellar ::
:: Year :: 2015 ::
:: __ _ _ __ ::
-:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:-
:: \ / ::
:: . Genre :: Black Metal Source :: CDDA . ::
:: Label :: Season of Mist R.date :: 2015.05.26 ::
_::__ Cat.nr. :: SOM349D Size :: 107,78 MB __::_
::// \\::
::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\::
:: ::
/: Encoder :: LAME 3.98.4 -V0 :\
..: Bitrate :: avg. 261kbps : .
. Quality :: 44,1kHz/Joint Stereo .
. .
Website :: http://www.derwegeinerfreiheit.de/
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: 01. Repulsion 08:41 ::
:: 02. Requiem 08:22 ::
:: 03. Einkehr 06:00 ::
:: 04. Verbund 03:31 ::
:: 05. Eiswanderer 09:15 ::
:: 06. Letzte Sonne 12:18 ::
:: 07. Idyll 04:09 ::
:: 08. Unendlich 04:59 ::
:: ------- ::
.. >> 57:15 ..
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
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+/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: ::
:: From Dark Fortress and Secrets of The Moon, to Infestus and ::
:: Agrypnie, via Ascension and Odem Arcarum, Germany seems to ::
:: have produced an inordinately high number of my favourite ::
:: Black Metal artists. And yet, despite all dealing firmly in ::
:: the blackened arts, each band produces such a distinct ::
:: strain of metallic darkness that, in many ways, this shared ::
:: nationality seems to be the only common thread linking them ::
:: in any sort of "scene". ::
:: ::
:: Well, to this amorphous grouping you can now add Bavarian ::
:: sensations Der Weg Einer Freiheit, as their new album, ::
:: Stellar, firmly and unequivocally establishes them as stars ::
:: in the ascendant, and is already one of my top contenders ::
:: for 2015's inevitable End of Year list(s). ::
:: ::
:: It's not that the band's previous albums weren't up to snuff ::
:: either. Far from it. In fact I've actually gone back to ::
:: their previous album (2012's Unstille) several times since ::
:: getting hold of their latest, and finally given it the time ::
:: it so richly deserves. The issue has simply been that with ::
:: so much music out there, and so little time, Der Weg Einer ::
:: Freiheit ended up slipping through the cracks a little. I ::
:: loved what I'd heard, but never managed to find the time to ::
:: really get into the band fully. ::
:: ::
:: Until now. ::
:: ::
:: Because, Stellar is so good, so powerful, so damn... ::
:: stellar... that I finally made the time. And I don't regret ::
:: it. In fact, I regret not doing it sooner. ::
:: ::
:: From the drifting, cosmic chords which open "Repulsion", to ::
:: the dying embers of sweeping closer "Letzte Sonne", the band ::
:: (now repurposed as a quartet following the departure of ::
:: original vocalist Tobias Jaschinsky) deliver their savage ::
:: brand of highly melodic - yet scaldingly aggressive - Black ::
:: Metal with ruthless aggression, every scything riff and ::
:: scorching blast-beat bedecked in a gleaming obsidian sheen. ::
:: ::
:: And yet, although they're variously referred to as "Melodic ::
:: Black Metal", "Post-Black Metal", and "Atmospheric Black ::
:: Metal", depending on who you talk to, for me none of these ::
:: labels seems to fit quite right. ::
:: ::
:: As bleakly and beautifully melodic as their songs can be, ::
:: they still remain densely, even disarmingly, aggressive, and ::
:: largely eschew the sort of nimble melodic riffing epitomised ::
:: by Dissection and Co. They also seem to largely eschew the ::
:: sort of cross-pollination that underpins much of the Post- ::
:: Black Metal movement (although they do share a number of ::
:: common facets with the aforementioned Agrypnie). ::
:: ::
:: And while "Atmospheric" certainly applies to the music of ::
:: Der Weg Einer Freiheit, calling it something like ::
:: "Atmospheric Black Metal" still seems like a bit of a ::
:: misnomer. ::
:: ::
:: No, in truth the band I'm most often reminded of when ::
:: listening to Stellar are the Swedish Satanizers Dark ::
:: Funeral, such is the primal focus and ferocity on display. ::
:: Whether it's the rampant savagery of "Requiem", the ::
:: venomously melodic assault of "Einkehr", or the sheer ::
:: uncompromising extremity of "Verbund", the quartet pour out ::
:: their wrath and vengeance with merciless, remorseless ::
:: precision. ::
:: ::
:: That's not to say the band are a one-note affair. There are ::
:: more than enough subtle progressive flourishes - a flash of ::
:: mournful clean vocals, a splash of doom-laden chords, a ::
:: brush-stroke of sombre strings or flickering ambience - ::
:: scattered throughout the album to ensure this is never a ::
:: concern. But still... there's something undeniably pure ::
:: about the music on Stellar, something rarefied and refined, ::
:: capturing the concentrated essence of the genre in stark ::
:: relief. ::
:: ::
:: This album takes the defining elements of Black Metal - ::
:: strychnine tremolo melodies, rampaging blast-beats, haunting ::
:: melancholy, and blinding, spiteful aggression - and burns ::
:: away all the dross and excess, until only the true soul and ::
:: spirit of the genre remains. ::
:: ::
:: What Der Weg Einer Freiheit have captured here is a near- ::
:: perfect snapshot of the genre. Its power and its potential. ::
:: Both what it is, and what it can be. ::
:: ::
:: -- ::
:: With Thanks to E. ::
:: ::
:: . _ _ . ::
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