Self-released
German vocalist and bass player Rainer Landfermann is known
for his work with PAVOR, Bethlehem,
and his own solo work. Featured on the album are ten dark and highly diverse
songs that are pushing the boundaries of the extreme metal genre. You have dramatic
low-frequency waves of bowed double basses, tenebrous choirs and somber jazz
ballad parts harmoniously join blasting drums and grim avant-garde guitar
riffs. The German album title translates to "My word in your
darkness". "The album is about introspection, self-awareness, and -
ultimately - about beauty:" says Rainer Landfermann, "its experience,
appreciation, and sometimes, the painful loss of it."
Talk about something different! The vocals go from straight
singing, growls to screaming that sounds like someone is being killed, and all
in the space of every song. It kind of gets a bit much with it going on over
and over again. Some parts remind me of Rammstein, some parts are pure noise,
and some of it is just beautiful and sounds like something that you would find
on a jazz album, and some like on a horror movie. The album jumps all over the
place and even has some of the jazz-punk of Black Flag in places…so much to
take in and very unclassifiable. Yes, it is metal, but it is so much more too.
The album is available both as download and as an elaborately designed limited
art book edition, for which Rainer Landfermann teamed up with Russian ballet
photographer Daria Chenikova and model Anna Grigoryan, ballerina at the
Stanislavsky Ballet in Moscow,
who is also featured on the album cover. For each of the ten songs on the
album, they created a gorgeous visualization of the theme and mood of the
respective music and lyrics.
While not my cup of tea, this is an album that really takes
chances and challenges the listener. I may not be a fan of most of this, but I
can respect what he is doing and some of the music on here.
-Rick Ecker
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