ALBUM REVIEW: Urfaust – Teufelsgeist

Dutch Black Metal occultists URFAUST return with their sixth album of devilish delights. Out via Ván Records on November 11th.

Classical orchestration opens the album with pummelled drums to create a glacial, spectral and superbly stunning opening passage. The haunting musical excellence has grace as it delivers a far more tranquil yet foreboding beginning than most Black Metal records would dare to concoct. Melodic guitar work adds a further chilling touch to this soundscape with a subtle glistening tinge betwixt a harmonious array of synths and cascading cymbals. There is a sombre and melancholic feel to this music that also has a provoking atmosphere of rebirth and symbiosis, a spellbinding start to what will hopefully be some of the bands most transcendent, illuminating and evocative music yet. The clean vocals that erupt to the melodious invocations are just as unnerving and yet gorgeously resplendent as the ambience beneath the glorious voice. Doomy and frightfully enchanting, there is a ritualistic heart to the operatic flame of this music that although may not be what one would expect from a Black Metal record, is delivered with the same sincerity and sense of euphoric yet dangerous energy.

The drums and bass that drive us into the second piece alongside cosmic synths sets the much more ethereal and out-of-body tone that will be more representative of the psychosis ahead. The euphoria has died, now the descent into ones psyche begins as the music is as intoxicating as the thematic rites invoked. Urfaust has always been a unique entity and the doom-laden pacing of this estranged opus showcases this with grandiosity yet an introspective humbleness that is reproachful of derivatively inane music, delivering a far more expansive performance than many. Discordance and more distance in the soundscapes sends the senses of tranquility toppling into the void as despairing and primal emotions take control with an impulsive grip that knows not of human inhibition. Shrill howls and snarls bring in the more familiar side of Black Metal while feeling in no way generic as buzzsaw synths cut through layers of booming drums in a far more rocky fashion than that of erratic blasting. Masterful control of the sound ironically representing losing control of the body in a magnificent manner.

Spiritual summonings of resplendent tranquility submerge us in ecstasy while distorted, warping and contorting sounds jar us back into the ritual. Though there is perhaps less in common with traditional Black Metal than ever, that is not to say the sincere occultism is any less present. In fact this black flame burns as stoically as ever before in the deep, smouldering, ambient experimentations of Urfaust. Droning and booming into the fourth chapter of the tome, we see a more Black Metal representation of the delirium. Perhaps most impressive is that the intensity doesn’t change because the orchestration throughout is so strong and emotive that typically “harsh” sounds are not needed to conjure foreboding nor disenfranchisement. This thundering eeriness is pure malice conjured into a pungent concoction for us to behold. A colossal behemoth of impenetrable soundscapes is what this album has to offer. Clearly for the more open-minded and occultist musical fiends than a run-of-the-mill Black Metal fan. This droning, sparse and experimental display of psychoactive soundscapes will haunt those who allow themselves to be enveloped by them with no regard for the casual listener.

An impressive and crushing opus of otherworldly yet introspective Ambient Black Metal that opens abyssal veins in ourselves that teach us what we are willing to learn when taken in by this devilish recording. While I cannot guarantee traditionalists will understand this magnificent work, those who approach it without egoism will be rewarded by a spiritualistic awakening in an all-vanquishing darkness. -8/10