Welcome back to the CD Odyssey where I methodically review all of the music in my collection in random order. I am 15 years and 1,936 albums into this journey. My trip has not yet matched the original Odysseus in terms of time spent, but I have heard a lot more music than him. He only got that one single from the sirens…not even an LP release.
Disc 1937 is… …zum Tode hin
Artist: Finsterforst
Year of Release: 2009
What’s up with the Cover? A gorgeous late evening sunset with a touch of menace about it. Like maybe around this lake lurks a slasher who murders anyone who dares to linger after the final rays of sunlight slip below the horizon.
Failing that, there are definitely mosquitoes.
How I Came To Know It: This is the latest in what I am calling the “Ross Records” – a suite of about 20 albums I purchased from my buddy Ross when he recently liquidated his CD collection. I was pretty excited that day. So excited I accidentally bought this album twice. I guess that means Ross did as well…
How It Stacks Up: I have four Finsterforst albums, but I gave up on one (“Weltenkraft”) after only one listen, so that one won’t be getting a review. Of the three that survived, I put “…zum Tode hin” (which according to Google Translate means, “Towards Death”) in at #3.
Ratings: 2 stars
What do you get when you mix traditional folk music with death metal? You get Finsterforst (in English, “Darkforest”), a German band who recognized that two great genres of music need not exist independent of one another if you have the energy and imagination to bring them together.
In light of this stylistic choice, the record’s title should be more than sufficient warning. The ‘towards’ part of “Towards Death” would be only when first select it from the shelf (or your buddy’s hallway) because the death-y parts of this record waste no time in revealing themselves.
The opening track, “Urquell” (which means “Source”) is ground zero for the sound Finsterforst is going for, with screeching raspy vocals, the thump of double bass, wall of guitar, and – of course – flutes and accordions. For the folk, you see.
Initially this combination drew me like a moth to the flame, and Urquell is the record’s best song, capturing the band’s ferocity and whimsy in perfect alignment. This is orcs and elves putting down their weapons to make music together. The result is weird but compelling.
What I didn’t realize in my first more casual listen is that these guys are not interested in a lot of development in the melody. A lilting section suitable for Morris dancing (of the angry kind), and a hammer-your-face death metal section, creating a wall of sound that is fun at first and then started to wear me out.
Don’t get me wrong, if I am in the mood for a wall of sound I’ll take guitar fury and double-bass drums over synthy mood pieces every time. The addition of things like flutes and bagpipes make it even better. But I also want to go on more of a journey in a song, particularly songs as long as these ones.
Because this is a very long record. It is only five songs, but with a total running time of over 70 minutes. The shortest of them is well north of 11 minutes and the final track surpasses 20. Listening to this record means you are in it for the long haul. No bathroom breaks (except maybe for the DJ) and no let up.
This is the last record to feature the lead vocals of Marco Schomas, and I’m hopeful that he is the common denominator for Finsterforst albums that don’t land as well for me (he is also on the already-abandoned Weltenkraft.
Schomas’ vocals – particularly after long exposure are, well, kinda painful. His growl doesn’t have the heft it needs and comes off sounding sharp and over-exposed. I am well-acclimated to death metal vocals, so I’m not a babe in the woods on this front, so do not mistake this for a general dislike of the style. I am sure some aficionados like their death rasps like this, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.
The record ends on a strong note, with the 20-minute monstrosity, “Untergang” or “Downfall”. I can’t tell you what it is about (everything is in German) but I can tell you it is epic, because at that length it pretty much has to be.
Unlike many of the songs on the record, “Untergang” has an extended ‘quiet’ period at the intro, featuring some soft guitar picking, and a very slow and satisfying build. At around five minutes in things get heavy, but the transition is smooth and welcome. “Untergang” had me wishing for the same level of dynamics and song structure for many of the other songs.
In the end, I enjoyed the feel of this record very much, but the lack of variability across the whole record, combined with its length and vocals that did not land for me, kept me from going all-in.
Best tracks: Urquell, Untergang
No comments:
Post a Comment