There's a meme floating around
social media that tells us, in effect, let people know how you feel about them.
So when Racer sent this promo to me, I promptly let him know how much I love
him, and that if we didn't live 800 miles apart I'd stand in his front yard and
serenade him. Of course, he hasn't spoken to me since then, which leads me to
think that maybe I pushed it a little too far. It is what it is.
The cause of all this sharing of
feelings is the new split featuring Panopticon and Waldgefluster. I
like splits that have well matched bands, and this one definitely works in that
regard. These are two bands that deal in black metal, and more of the
Cascadian, nature worshiping black metal at that.
Waldgefluster hail from Munich, Germany.
They have two songs on the split. A new original titled “Der Traumschander”
leads off their side. It's a longer track, clocking in at a bit over twelve
minutes, and seems to flow through and touch on most of the things you would expect
in a black metal song. There is raging music with blast beats, there are
acoustic breakdowns, and some really nice melodic touches, which a lot of
people miss about black metal. Their second track is actually a cover of a Panopticon
song called “Norwegian Nights”. They manage to do a pretty faithful cover while
putting their own spin on it, and it turns out very nicely.
Panopticon is in the fine
tradition of the one man black metal band. Austin Lunn is the man behind the
band, and his original track is just a beast. “Hakan's Song”also manages to
cover a lot of territory stylistically, and goes from a full on black metal rager
for about half of the almost thirteen minute running time, to an acoustic
interlude that is some of the most beautiful music I've heard in a long time.
The song finishes with full “band” continuing the melody and I have to say that
this track just blew me away. The best individual song I have heard in years.
This one song alone is worth the price of admission. And of course the favor is
returned as the second song for Mr. Lunn is a Waldgefluster cover,
“Trauerweide II”. Again, the track gets the Panopticon treatment with
some interesting instrumentation, but it's true enough to the original that you
know what it is.
Another killer release from the
Bindrune Records collective, this one just has to be in your collection. Waldgefluster
bring a top effort, and Panopticon have been straight killin' it over at
least the last five releases in which they've been involved. This one of those can't
miss albums and you need to hear it.
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