Endlichkeit I–II

There are times that when someone is eager enough to search the depths of the endless pit of releases can find many musical gems that remain unknown to the average listener. In this case, the gem is this Endlichkeit's sold-out Demo tape released by "Fallen Empire Records".

The demo consists of 2 tracks. As soon as the first track, "I", begins you can easily understand that there is a huge mind trip awaiting you, a trip filled with feelings of nostalgia and melancholy. The band offers simple, yet notably expressive guitar riffing that is bound to stick in your head for hours after the listening session is over. Both the drums and the vocals, being discreet, contribute to the track's being engulfed in an eerie atmosphere. Personally, the whole bundle of their music and the production of this release, reminds me of precocious Velvet Cacoon and Trist but in a faster tempo.

The second track, "II", follows and its purpose of completing the paths of monotonous, yet hardly boring guitar riffing is utterly successful. Both tracks consist of extremely beautiful guitar melodies that suck you in a "cold" and monotonous atmosphere that only Endlichkeit can create.

In conclusion, I must mention that the cover, being a snowy landscape, is completely suitable to the atmosphere the band creates. As you listen to this release you can feel this landscape take form in your mind.

Endlichkeit is a band that deserves to be checked out and I hope that their next release will be as amazing as this demo but hopefully, it will feature more tracks.

Here we have the debut demo tape of a virtually unknown band in the USBM scene.Released by the ever great Fallen Empire Records, this gem continues the legacy of very strong output by the label. Anyone who knows their underground black metal is quite familiar with certain aesthetic choices of this tape. Some of the kvlt cliches are in full effect; a plain logo, frosty looking trees, roman numeral song titles, and of course, a lack of information regarding the members. Depending on how much you truly love black metal, this might either make or break your first impression. However, anyone willing to pass on this based on aesthetics alone would be missing out.

Where Endlichkeit really shines is within the most important aspect of all; The music. From the tape’s abrupt start, you are hit with a fuzzy wall of ice. Yes, this music sounds exactly like the imagery portayed in the artwork. A riff that is captivating, longing, and morose all at once presents a view of nature only black metal could express. The desolation and majesty of a winter forest.. The grey horizon of the clouds.. You can almost breathe the frosty air in this atmosphere! As “I” continues on into changing tempos and melodies, it keeps up this grand imagery. Riffs like this are very special, and to me, bring to mind stuff like Mortifera’s “Le revenant”. Not in the sense of sounding totally the same, but sharing a very special, emotionally sincere expression of black art. The song writing features hallmarks of black metal in the old way; steady, blasting rhythm section, tremolo picking, and buried, distant rasps. With “I” being such a strong opener, I was left salivating at what “II” might bring to the table.

Of course, “II” hits the spot just as well, if not better than “I”. Continued is the knack for emotional and cold atmosphere in the guitars. Though this song is very much a great partner to it’s first counterpart, it does descend into more bleak sounding territory about midway through. Whereas “I” captures the great, vast essence of winter, “II” seems to conjure visions of nightfall. Of utter cold and loneliness. The drums pound away unforgivingly, as the melodies become darker and darker. The song continues on like this to the equally abrupt end of the tape.

Not only is this a victory for Fallen Empire, but for US black metal in general. So many great bands have been coming out of the US lately, it is almost like a renaissance of next generation heavy weights. With Fallen Empire documenting many of these up and comers, they are surely a label to follow. This demo is now officially sold out from the Fallen Empire webshop, but fear not. Not only do they offer it for free mp3 download on their bandcamp page, but they’ve also announced an upcoming LP for release this year. Needless to say, I’ll be buying (and very likely reviewing) that LP.

originally published for http://aliveasthedead.wordpress.com/