Следуй за мной

Russia’s Eisflammen is little more than a side project of members of other bands, in particular of Vyacheslav Oboskalov, founder of the critically acclaimed Elderwind and ex-members of the now disbanded Nationalist Socialist black metal act Kharza. The project has released only two albums so far, and 2022’s Следуй за мной (transliterated as Sleduy za mnoy, means “follow me”) is their second one. Given the trouble Russia has gone in recent years with the Western society, I doubt we’re going to get more news and releases from any of them, so I would consider them “on hold”, at least for now.

Far less creative than Elderwind, the project’s releases are based on D-tuned melodic blackgaze with howl-like falsetto shrieking vocals, imperfect, digital-arranged drumming with shoddy samples and minimal, open-string-based modal tremolo guitar riffing (with few palm-muting scattered through) derivative of Uada, Mgła, Horna and many other acts from the Finnish/Polish scenes. The songwriting is lengthy and simplistic, featuring bits of synth pads, strings, samples from nature sounds and mournful acoustic guitars, all present on the intro of the title track. Less loud in terms of volume than the previous one, but equally as grungy and distorted, this album serves as a continuation, with no stylistic turns to be found.

Boasting discernible production which prioritizes the vocals over the bass (may as well be a digital plug-in), the songs plod along with slow-changing chord progressions based on non-technical fingering, sounding at the same time melancholic, dissonant and funereal, but the prevalent lack of dynamics or songwriting quirks is noticeable. It’s a pleasing sound (thanks also to improved drum production), but I can’t say I really appreciate any of the songs. Sure, The Bonfires has dramatic B minor/G major-seventh two-chord riffing, but the following one, Like Ash…, is barely distinguishable, save for its different E-flat chord in the stanzas, the other tracks merely follow as one. As with most recent atmo-black released in the 2010’s, this is an album plagued by compositional laziness, take-it-easy recording and same-y arrangements. Advised mostly for fans of the niche.