Wintermoon - _Arroganz_
(Seelenkrieg Records, 2006)
by: Kostas Sarampalis (6 out of 10)
_Arroganz_ has all the aesthetics of pure underground black metal. Monochromatic black and white cover and booklet, slightly better than bedroom production, repetitive looped drumming that is slightly muffled, grim vocals that weave just behind the guitars. After a very silly intro of what sounds like a donkey being violated, "Pure Black" starts the album nicely in an early Nineties black metal fashion. The closest comparison is of course early Darkthrone, albeit Wintermoon are less hard hitting and a bit slower, more subdued.

In eight songs and thirty eight minutes, you get variations of similar guitar riffs, making the album sound monolithic, but also giving it that extra underground feel that provokes the listener to pay closer attention to what is going on in the songs. "Satan, Eye of the Night" and "The Saving Sacrifice of Christ" benefit from some tempo and riff changes, and elsewhere, closer "Resurrection" is harsher, more to the point and acts as a very good bookend to the album.

This is Wintermoon's sophomore album, and although far from doing anything original or impressive, they seem to be progressing in their song writing and their sound quality. I would have liked to see them take more adventurous paths in their music, and a bit more variety in between the songs would not harm the album in the least. As always in this style, production is nothing to write home about, but it is not dreadful either. This is by no means a bad album, especially if you are into discovering every band under the (black) moon that worships Darkthrone. For my ears, it offers nothing exciting, yet I know plenty who would give it more than a few spins and enjoy doing so.

Contact: http://www.kingdom-of-wintermoon.de

(article published 28/1/2007)


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