Nicht um zu sterben

Dornenreich have always appeared to me as a band beyond genre boundaries, despite not knowing an awful lot about their illustrious career, or discography. I don’t claim to be a massive fan of this band but, after seeing them performed live in London in support of Agalloch (or they might have been co-headlining), I soon realised that something needed to be done to rectify this situation. Instrumentally, Dornenreich were superb in a live setting. Inve, or Thomas Riesner, was, in particular, inspirational and even though his furious style of play saw him break a string or two, he still performed impeccably and with a huge smile on his face throughout the night, which was pleasing to see and infectious. He seemed to really enjoy performing live and to a crowd who were appreciative of his skills and talents. However, for this debut full-length ‘Nicht Um Zu Sterben’, leave your happiness and infectious smiles at the door because, although Dornenreich evolved into an ambient rock band several years after their conception, the earliest parts of their career saw the three-some play a melodic style of black metal with elements of neofolk thrown in for good affect.

Although I enjoyed Dornenreich’s live performance of their new-found ambient rock style with the hissed vocals of Eviga, I somehow couldn’t transfer that enjoyment from the live setting onto their studio albums and neither could the band transfer their performance in a live setting to the studio. The latest album ‘In Luft Geritzt’, for example, is too unconventional for my liking. Though I’m a fan of rock music in general and tend to appreciate ambient tinged music, I couldn’t manage to muster up much positivity towards their latest effort, or their new stylistic approach. Though I have always felt inspired by Dornenreich’s vision to break the mould, just like bands like Ulver, I cannot stomach their latter-day efforts due to the unfamiliar surroundings of the artsy soundscapes, just as I can’t with a number of Ulver’s modern albums. Although I have always known Dornenreich performed under the black metal scope in their earliest days, I still wasn’t prepared for the journey that this album, ‘Nicht Um Zu Sterben’, takes me on, especially given the acoustic ending to the album.

At the time I couldn’t really fathom why Agalloch and Dornenreich would be co-headlining a gig. They seemed like total opposites, but the more I delve into Dornenreich’s catalogue, the more I understand the decision to play alongside one another on a tour of some of Europe’s most distinguished cities. Unbeknownst to me, I didn’t realise that this album incorporates neofolk into its range. As with Agalloch, Dornenreich accompany their black metal elements, though these are far more noticeable on this album than on any of Agalloch’s, with gentle acoustics supplied by their strong leader, Eviga, and other elements of instrumentation, like the synths of the keyboards from Eviga also, which make this an incredibly varied album beneath the rigid surface. Not only this, but the album also comes across as symphonic in places, as on songs like ‘Verlorenes gefunden, Gefundenes empfunden’, which uses Eviga’s terrific synths well amidst the desolation of the harsher black metal elements.

This is a familiar feeling once the album kicks into gear, with songs like ‘Schlaflos träumend’ incorporating a flute (provided by Dragomir) into a heavily distorted song that uses rather clichéd storm samples and crowing black ravens. The juxtaposed concepts of clean and harsh instrumentation flow very well and without rigidity, despite the distorted layering above the cleaner aspects like the flute and keyboards. The album even has time to incorporate sparse clean vocals from Dunkelkind, though this play second fiddle to Eviga’s typical raspy vocals. ‘Schlaflos träumend’ is a brilliant example of the heavier touches coexisting with the cleaner aspects and, although Eviga’s vocals never alter their course, the other aspects of the album do take the time to entertain slower, more subtle forms of emotions rather than laying on heavily repetitious distorted layering and double bass blasts. The bass, though not always audible, is a fine example of an instrument that does tend to weave around the harsher elements experimentally when it does become a factor.

The bass, as with the keyboards, are often very varied, though the keyboards remain a more prominent influence when it comes to the neofolk and symphonic aspects of the approach. Occasionally, the album reminds me of Ulver’s ‘Bergtatt’. The way it integrates acoustics into songs like ‘Im flatternden Schleier der Vergänglichkeit’ is very much in the vein of those earliest black meets folk bands. The acoustics alongside the whispered vocals of Eviga are hinting at what is to come from the band in the future as this is a sound they go on to persist with, despite not being all that prominent on this particular album. There is a strength to this side of Dornenreich, but that may be due to its juxtaposed positioning with the harsher aspects. They accentuate the positive sides of each others game and, as the saying goes, “opposites attract”. This is shown consistently throughout the album with songs like ‘Und wie ein Kind in deiner Hand’ using repetitive bases for most of its instruments whilst the keyboards float mesmerising the listener over the top. In conclusion, whilst this album isn’t the height, or pinnacle of black meets folk, it’s a solid affair made even better by Eviga’s leadership and musicianship.