Erbe Verpflichtet

Allvaters Zorn come to us as a keyboard laden ambient / folk metal band with black metal elements from Germany. The folk metal certainly stands out more than the black metal, as the vocals are usually clean / spoken / whispered, and there are tons of nature inducted sequences. But the nature sequences aren't the ones that make this release referred to partially as "ambient", as there are tons of keyboard sequences. The keyboard sequences aren't necessarily dark and evil sounding (as most keyboards in ambient sound thereof), but more atmospheric masterpieces. Nothing has brought up a greater picture in my mind of a solitary beach at dusk, with sunset and waves repeating over and over more than Allvaters Zorn have done.

The ambient pieces are actually somewhat rare within this release, as the main focus is really doomed-out folk metal. The riffs are very catchy and somewhat legato, very clean and sticked together without any interuptions between notes. This, I suppose; could bring up the mistake of calling this band a black metal band. There are only a few vague sequences where this band sounds even remotely close to black metal. The legato notes, chords, 50/50 harsh vocals, and melodic overceding parts could be mistaken for black metal. But once again; this relase is folk metal with ambient elements.

We also see some rather different instruments being used here. With some harpsichords, pianos, organs, etc. All are very well-concentrated into the music though; I must say. They are usually put in at the ambient parts, and occasionallu are mixed into the background riffs of the folk sequences. The drums are usually quite slow and decent, but can reach astounding speeds - for example on "Vom End der Welt", a song that begins with some slow ambient pieces, and just when you least expect it, leaps into amazingly fast and harsh, raw black metal. I'm not exactly sure, but I believe a drum machine is being used here.

This tape is one of the best demos I've heard from a German band in a very long time. I highly reccomend it to raw black metal fans who can also appreciate slow, ambient sequences - and especially fans of atmospheric folk metal. Outstanding work.