Der Pfad zum Fluss

I read somewhere that EgoNoir lacked originality. I must say, I found this statement to be both strange and unfounded. In fact, I think Germany’s EgoNoir consist of bags of originality and vision, though that doesn’t necessarily add up to a wonderful project with a rip-roaring sound that can virtually do no wrong. EgoNoir, a band which happens to consist of a talented musician who also plies his trade with artists like Nagelfar and Simple Existenz, the former being one of Germany’s best black metal bands, are a visionary band which combines elements of dark metal and various black metal sub-genres, like ambient, atmospheric and depressive. On occasions, as shown on songs like ‘Heereskind’, EgoNoir simultaneously mix all of those genres together. Songs like the aforementioned truly show how innovative EgoNoir can be but their style is a bit too blunt for my liking and could do more to make the journey a more atmospheric one, as opposed to this fairly raw deal. The subtleties are ruled out from having a greater impact by that raw texture to the album but, when they do come into play, they’re generally very well produced. The mixture of clean elements alongside the harsh realities of the lyrical themes and depressive black metal material on songs like ‘EgoNoir Teil 7’ is fantastic, though this isn’t a theme explored much, unfortunately.

‘Heereskind’ is a song which moves blissfully between the various influences EgoNoir incorporate into their music. From the folksy side to their game in the cleaner instrumentation and discernable clean vocals, to the depressive elements of the vocalists’ unearthly screams. Mix this together with the incredibly weird samples of warfare and happily singing children, I often get the feeling that EgoNoir are trying too hard to be different and, in doing so, they carelessly lumber themselves into a group of musicians who try too hard to be ground breaking but ultimately fail to deliver on a grand scale. There are definitely a few issues with the music and musicianship which need to change in order for EgoNoir to succeed on a grander scale. The programming of the drums, for example, is far too noticeable. Drum programming is obvious, especially to those so used to it but songs like ‘Des blutes Ruhm’ make it far too obvious through their use of experimentation in other areas, therefore the drums stick out like a sore thumb, holding up the evolution of the music.

Songs like the aforementioned use extensive experimentation throughout and the smaller elements which hinder the progress of the album become more and more visible as time goes by. The drums are one area which need to be addressed on the sophomore, which I have not yet heard, but plan to listen to very soon. The use of those creepy samples could do with culling, too. They don’t tend to add much to the atmosphere of the music. The instrumentation, I find, isn’t creepy. It isn’t meant to portray what the samples do, therefore they appear to be pulling in different directions, stunting the emotional growth of the album by confusing the direction. The opening to the album also differs immensely from how it ends. The opening song, which happens to be self-titled, is almost completely a depressive black metal song. From the approach of the vocals, to the feeling of the music and the atmosphere it generates through the instrumentation. All these areas point to a depressive conclusion, especially the use of dense, emotionally downbeat atmospherics produced by the harsh textures of the distorted guitars and the impacting rasps of the vocalist.

Both the bass and the keyboards, which produce a subtle performance throughout, are far more varied than the approach of the limited drums and repetitious guitars (though they’re far more varied towards the end of the album with far more cleaner sections becoming more frequent). The bass is actually very affective in its role. In the beginning, when the album feels far more cautious about experimenting, often hiding the experimental factors, such as the clean vocals, behind the wall of sound, the style is far more generic than it becomes towards the end. In fact, the conclusion to the album is so different from the shallow opening that I could have sworn I was listening to a completely different album by a completely different band. There isn’t much in the way of consistency, as you’d imagine, with a band who chops and change but the experimental parts are quite impressive and, therefore, the album is deserving of a far more generous light being shed on it. Unlike a lot of bands these days, EgoNoir aren’t affair to mix it up a bit and they do this to good affect on most occasions, especially through the use of acoustics and cleanly chanted vocals, superbly shown on the melodic ‘EgoNoir Teil 7’. Generally speaking, this album has some glorious moments but much of the material is underwhelming, though I certainly wouldn’t say this isn’t an original album because, well, it is.