Dornenreich – Flammentriebe

If you’re just tuning in, we have two outs, bottom of the ninth inning . . . bases are loaded and the home team is down by three runs . . . shuffling up to the plate with his head down in his typical shy fashion . . . number 666 . . . Dornenreich steps into the batter’s box for Team Prophecy Productions. I tell ya’ Racer, in all my years of watching the game, breathing in its subtle intricacies, I’ve never seen a team come through in the clutch like this Prophecy team, and we have the makings for yet another instant classic . . . a game that will live on forever in the history books of the greatest games ever played! And would you look at that!!! As if on cue, Dornenreich chases a curveball out of the strike zone . . . lined over the left fielders head . . . and all he can do is watch as the ball easily clears the outfield wall and is now a souvenir for the rabid fans who have waited a lifetime for this moment! Do you believe in miracles? I can’t believe my eyes! Racer . . . any comments? You are the color guy after all.

Sorry about that, folks . . . with spring training starting and baseball right around the corner, I couldn’t fight the urge to draw some bizarrely apt correlation between the sport and the amazing work that Prophecy Production consistently releases, and the talents of these guys from Dornenreich have displayed on their latest release entitled Flammentriebe.

Flammentriebe is black metal with an avant tinge, somewhat shoe-gazer, brutal and brackish, beautiful and morose. I first stumbled on Dornenreich on the Prophecy compilation Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings and found the track to be one of the most compelling, so once the promo for Flammentriebe made its way to me, suffice it to say that I was more than intrigued, maybe even a wee bit on the excited side. By now, you all should know that I love it when musicians push the boundaries of a musical genre, eclipsing any pre-conceived ideas as to what we all had for said genre, permanently stamping their fingerprint to a musical style for all to witness and absorb through the ages. Dornenreich take that full on aggressive black metal style of music and add fantastic elements that make my ears tickle with excitement . . . beautiful and lush acoustic guitar passages, ambient and atmospheric interludes, violins that add more than a delicate texture, acting as one of the key instruments throughout . . . and then there’s a compositional complexity that is like junk shot into my veins to ease my proggy addiction. To draw comparisons with the outside world, let’s take the ambitious musical nature of Opeth, mix it with the pure, unadulterated natural blackened death styling’s of Khold, mix that all with the show-gazing subtleties of label mates Alcest and Les Discrets, and then add a style that can only be Dornenreich’s alone, y’know . . . those intricate little sounds, moods, and tones that can’t be pinned on any other band. I absolutely love this album!

Dornenreich hail from Austria and Flammentriebe is completely written and performed in the bands native tongue, but that shouldn’t be a turn off to anybody. The emotions transcend any language barrier, and in the case of Flammentriebe, actually makes the songs sound that much more important and immediate. The opening track, “Flammenmensch,” is a five minute gem of utter brilliance! After a tentative plucking of an acoustic guitar introduces us to the album, the electric version of the instrument creates that sonic wall that seems to permeate in the black metal world, then we get the blood curdling screams, and a little double bass drum/blastbeat  cacophony, and it’s all performed the way I love it . . . with immediacy and honesty, and to keep the wary ear entangled in the web of intrigue, Dornenreich change things up with stunning breaks that allow the song to breath and grow more ominous. Here’s where things get really interesting . . . listen closely to the double, triple, tendon-tearing pick attack of the guitars and you’ll hear the violins in tight accompaniment, adding another texture that I’ve never heard before . . . but listen closely coz’ it can get lost in the mix a bit. Totally bitchin’ effect and for me adds a completely different dimension to the music and what could be.

“Der Wunde Trieb” immediately picks up with the violins leading the way, and then stepping back to let the rest of the band beat us senseless. Then, the violins reappear, adding this great mournful and haunting effect to the blistering black metal tirades. Glorious in its darkness and oppressiveness, “Der Wunde Trieb” is epic metal filled with awesome moments of nuance, hefty technical skill, and emotional depth that will take more than a handful of listening sessions to fully comprehend. By the time you get to “Tief im Land” you should be well primed for one of the most beautifully complex and emotionally savage songs on the album. Again, opening with an acoustic guitar and suddenly bursting with electricity, this song is a full on Odyssian journey of experimentation and musical expression. To listen to the way these guys pull back one instrument to allow another to propel the song and then vice versa, it’s like watching a perfectly choreographed chorus line or, better yet, the inner working of a machine at work . . . all the pieces working together to create motion but all those piece doing their own individual job. “Tief im Land” is a clinic on composition and performance that should be taught at every musical institution. So declareth the Pope. . . so let it be done!

“Wolfpuls” and “Wandel Geschehe” follow suit with more of the aforementioned tendencies, violins working in conjunction with the bombast of the traditional black metal soundings, adding an element of class that one doesn’t find with many black metal acts. “Wolfpuls” is more of a grinding, throbbing, pulsating metallic gem while “Wandel Gerschehe” acts more as a wooden hulled ship cresting wave after roiling wave on the open seas, dipping deep into the valleys of despair, then being propelled to the peak of the wave before crashing down again. Both songs will have you lost within yourself, contemplating the greater meaning of it all and wondering why you hadn’t created such masterful work in your own life. “In Allem Weben” is another sterling example of the musical proficiency that Dornenreich seems to wield within their souls, effortlessly piecing passages together that performed by any other band may never come out sounding half this good. Seamlessly flowing from one expressive passage to another, pummeling the senses with malevolent sounds while incorporating more serene and subtle elements to keep the song from being one dimensional, these guys do a masterful job of challenging the listener, but never over-challenging them.

Flammentriebe is easily at the top of this year’s “Must Have” list. Yeah, it’s early in the year and there’s a great chance it will supplanted by another amazing album, but for the time being, I’m going to spin this gem as much as I possibly can. The layers of sound that make up this album keep me interested and help push my imagination to places I haven’t seen in a long, long time. The album rocks, yet it does so in a very intelligent manner . . . kinda’ like a premeditated murder that stumps the world’s greatest detectives. And yes, to conclude the earlier analogy of this piece, it’s a bases clearing game winning grand slam that leaves Dornenreich being carried off on the shoulders of his team mates to the cheers of thousands. Game ball should go to Prophecy for recognizing the raw talents of this band and getting them prepped for the big leagues!

Pope

http://dornenreich.com/

http://www.prophecyproductions.de/front_content.php?idcat=258&idart=397&releaseid=204

Prophecy Productions - Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings (Compilation)

Never . . . ever . . . in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would sit down and write my thoughts about a compilation album. Compilation albums have always been a mixed bag for me. Some songs will be just okay from the artists that you expect to be great, some songs are great from artists that you would expect would suck, and every so often, you stumble on a new name that’s doing something interesting, but that in itself never warrants the penning of a review and the typical collection usually sounds mismatched and unfocused in style and sound. Well, slap my ass and call me Susie . . . I have been pummeled senseless by the fine folks at Prophecy Productions (read my thoughts on Les Discrets, Alcest, Negura Bunget . . . yeah, I’m a big fan) with their compilation of dark and moody ambient trance inducing songs entitled Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings.

Prophecy Productions has quickly become one of my favorite labels for a few reasons, but namely the music that’s coming out from this label is emotionally complex and the kind of stuff rocks the soul rather than the body. The music is generally heavy in mood, not in overall sonic tone. The music is usually pretty dark, both in imagery and in emotion. And, the music never gets bombastic in the pummeling sense . . .it’s extreme, but on the other side of the spectrum than what we in the metal community have become accustomed to with the blastbeats and detuned instruments set to eleven. Then, of course, there’s the production value that you get from these guys! The packaging on their products is worth every red cent that one can dig from under their couch cushions or from the drink holders in their cars. Prophecy delivers a quality product . . . end of story.

This compilation is all of the above. Starting off with a quiet instrumental tune from Vali called “Hoestmelankoli”, I got this immediate sense that something tragic was about to happen. Less than a minute and a half long, this introduction to all that is Prophecy is packed with sorrow and despair, yet with an ever so faint ray of hope. The song is just a couple of acoustic guitars picking away at a gorgeous melody that escalates in epicness before morphing into a traipsing through a desolate castle sounds of Empyrium’s “The Day Before the Fall”. Laden with a multitude of instruments . . . cellos, acoustic guitars, the steady hum of what sounds like an old pipe organ . . . this song is simply mournful. This is one of those rare tracks on this album that is truly heavy in instrumentation as it is in mood and emotion. We have huge drum and distorted guitar portions in the middle passages of this one, and the whole thing builds in tension as the reality of a kingdom dissolves into ash. Absolutely brilliant!

Nebelung’s “Ich würd es hören” is a gem of a tune. Sung in native German and played with a couple of acoustic guitars and some string accompaniment, this song is a great example of how a band can create some serious mood without the massive production of a full band ensemble. Roughly translated to “I’d Hear It”, I get the sense that this is a personal tale of loss. The vocals are packed with so much sorrow, mournful . . . but not full of despair, not the suicidal type . . . this reeks of a man who has lost something of great emotional value is trying to find a way to fill that void or honor that loss. Man . . . truly a heavy song in an emotional sense! Then follow that one up with October Falls and their contribution of “Viima” and the soul is just torn apart. There is an epic sadness to the melody of this track. The acoustic guitars are played over a foundation of howling winds, which add an organic sense of natural wonder. Then, these guys add subtle flourishes of cello to create a massively heart rending texture. This is the kind of song that fits well with sitting in a darkened room, watching the rain or snow fall from a dark grey sky, and recollecting past transgressions or lost loves.

Ainulindalë’s “A Year Of Silence” was actually the first song that I heard from the album and I was immediately hooked by the vocal performances, both from the lead vocalist as well as from the choir of backing vocalists. Throw in the plaintive screams from the violins and the accents from the percussions and this song is drenched with elements that tickle the ears and, ultimately, the soul. My personal favorites on the Prophecy roster and the act that made me want to hear this compilation in the first place, Les Discrets contribute a couple of tracks back to back with “5 Montee Des Epies” and “Apres l'Ombre”. The first is a simple arpeggio being repeated on a chorused out guitar with some subtle synthesized sounds in the background, but then the second track kicks in and the sound that made me fall in love with this band hit me like an axe blade in the forehead. The strumming acoustic guitars, the textural synth flourishes, the impassioned vocals, the overall dark and shoe-gazing appeal of this song remind me of why I adore their full-length album Septembre Et Ses Dernieres Pensees as much as I do. These are two tracks that get better and better with every listen!

In truth, there is not a track on this compilation that doesn’t fit or doesn’t take me to some magically emotional place. The Musk Ox track is beautiful, the Havnatt seven minute epic . . . Wow! Ethereal beauty emanates from this one and the female vocals, sung in a native Norwegian tongue, are the key to its elegance. Dornenreich . . . stunning and I’ve only made it through the first disc in this set! Nhor, Ulver, and Neun Welten’s sprawling tune “Pan”, all stand as fantastic examples of the individual bands abilities of carving out their own niche in this organically ambient genre. Tenhi . . . Oh, Tenhi! You who I had never heard before, but now feel the need to cling to every note that you produce! Folks . . . this song is laden with so much soul shaking music that to not feel something from it would equate to one being dead inside. What is that? A mandolin being played over a throbbing and pulsating drum rhythm, those haunting and cryptic vocals, the plinking of piano keys and the constant reverberation of the violin strings . . . this song is my new life changer! The tones shift from ominous to hopeful and back again, all seamless and unforced. Remember this name. Tenhi.

It’s impossible for me to ramble on about every track on this glorious release and hope to keep from being redundant. Just know this, Prophecy Productions has some of the most wonderful songwriting talents on their roster and this compilation is perfect. Perfect, in that I have now been exposed to so many new artists who have the ability to move me on an emotional level as well as on an intellectual level. The songs have a dark, foreboding menace to them . . . a sorrow laced within the individual notes . . . an emotion that despite many of the songs being sung in languages that I don’t understand still impact me to feel shivers across my skin and my soul. All of these artists should be damn proud of the work that they’ve contributed here, but as true artists, they won’t be proud of these works. They’ll feel that these songs were simply a snapshot of how they were feeling at a particular moment and they were fortunate enough to capture those emotions forever in these recordings. For me . . . well, I’m thankful that they did. Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings is an instant classic and ranks up there with the first Metal Massacre album. Outstanding work, folks!

Pope

Buy here: Whom the Moon a Nightsong Sings
Buy mp3: Whom The Moon A Night Song Sings

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