CoC : Grabnebelfursten - Von Schemen und Trugbildern : Review

Grabnebelfursten - _Von Schemen und Trugbildern_
(Ketzer Productions, 2001)
by: Vincent Eldefors (7.5 out of 10)

Some bands just don't seem to want to become famous and known to the entire world, and the German Grabnebelfursten is one of them. The little information I have on the band is that they have apparently released a mini-CD called "Sakralasthetik" on the German label Last Episode prior to this. This band definitely deserves more attention than they are willing to draw to themselves, because their brand of black metal is quite unique, exciting and varied. Their music is very atmospheric and melodic and the vast range of vocal styles used on this album is rather impressive. They are not afraid to use keyboards either, although this will automatically make them "trendy" in the eyes of some Darkthrone fanatics. They are, however, far from sounding like Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir, who would sound rather mediocre without their symphonic arrangements. The closest you could come to imagining the music of this album is as a mix between early Cradle of Filth and Ancient Rites, although Grabnebelfursten is a lot rawer and less polished. These Germans will show the world that black metal is far from dead and there are still new worlds to explore musically. The only thing I don't understand is why a bigger label hasn't picked them up, because this album deserves a lot more attention than it has been given (which is practically none). Being a German black metal band and writing their lyrics in German will automatically make them nazis to some people, but I think those people need to open their minds and realize that the world is not as easy to predict as they apparently would want it to be. If you enjoy atmospheric black metal, then I definitely think you should check out this band, even though that is not the easiest thing to do at the moment...

Contact: http://welcome.to/ketzer/

(article published 12/4/2002)