Der deutsche Michel - Eine Neuinszenierung

A perfect EP, "Der deutsche Michel - Eine Neuinszenierung" is as fascinating as complex. In my opinion, a piece of art created and intended as a whole work. The melancholy and uneasiness are ever present, even before the music starts: the covert art is mesmerizing and confusing, it's uncanny and tenebrous in a brilliant way; is that a queen keeping a veil over the exhausted peasant? Is she an angel about to execute this miserable soul? is it she the incarnation of the motherland? Is he Michel the german? It seems to be a simple and medievalesque painting but it is pretty demanding once you watch and observe carefully, is truly an excellent piece of art, in the physical copy, made gracefully by Der neue Weg Productions, the art shines with its own light, it demands you to put it in a place you can see it. When you open the digipack and set eyes on the whole painting, it gets more interesting, it is peaceful, comfortable, and dreamy, a village beneath the river trees and blue skies, but this is a black metal record and nothing else.

The music is as interesting and complex as the art cover but is the best part of the work. The top-notch production allows the guitars to breathe and be as dark and gloomy as they need since the drums and bass will be there to support their sound and the power of their melodies. Epiphanie kept the oniric ambient of their previous and glorious album "Luzide Träume" but this time the mix of the instruments has finally made justice to the music of this talented musician because the sound is excellent, it was taken care of. Now, the compositions in this mysterious EP are of the best the year 2022 took with him.

"Der deutsche Michel - Eine Neuinszenierung" translates roughly to "Michael the german - A New Production" or "The German Michel - A New Production", but honestly, how weird is that? I don't really know why but it struck me as a truly melancholic title. There are no lyrics included in the beautiful digipack nor in the band's pages, so there is no way for me to understand what the songs are about, but that creates another layer to the record, it mystifies the words and the music reigns with its sullen yet gorgeous riffs and melodies. The band also kept it simple, just the necessary instrumentation and the complete confidence in the guitar work make the songs broad, epic and inscrutable, heavy, dark, and melancholic. The vocals sang with desperation and furious discontent and even then they transmit sadness and obscurity.

The first track, "Deutschland, dir ist ein Kind entschlafen" (Germany, you lost a child) is a bestial way to start an EP —but often could be disappointing if the best track of the "extended play" is the first one and that hight is never, even remotely, near again—, starts dismal and painful but quickly evolves into an angrier melody. There is disappointment, pain, disapproval, shame, and agony. But then the same guitars that brought you these sensations bring light and some kind of stoic hope. The black metal blast-beat parts are as good as the most melodic and cerebral parts of the record. On this track, the vocals are another highlight, but even after vigouruous sessions listening to this song I still cannot really know what is about and what should I feel. Makes me return every time. Timeless.

Now, the masterpiece of this mastodon is called "Der deutsche Michel" (The German Michael). Who is he? Who the hell is Michael the german and why is he so fucking important? So important his song has one of the most strikingly beautiful moments in black metal history? I'm trying not to exaggerate, but this is near perfect. A "The Beach Boys'" Pet Sounds level of complexity, a The Beatles Revolver moment: chords, notes, and melodies that shouldn't work together clashes in this forever peculiar moment, but is not just the sounds or the music! The emotions it awakens are powerful, distressing, and plain mournful, but as in the cover, you don't know if this music should heal you and watch over you or if it's going to decapitate you and shatter your existence. It's dark, it's precious, it's chaotic, it's hopeful, it's human, it's art. Herr Soul is a master compositor, not a virtuoso or a technical genius, but a musician who needs to express the most complex human emotions and is capable of such an endeavor. This song is a triumph in melancholic black metal, but in music in general as well. The drums in this song focus on melody, and that is also really strange in a black metal track, but it's like even the percussions are conveying feelings and sensations. The enigma of this song will be something that forever will make me come back to it.

The next song, "Auf verbrannter Erde" (On scorched earth) is the perfect follow-up to such an emotional rollercoaster as the previous one, a faster, agonic, and darker black metal song. But the guitars keep on weeping nonetheless creating memorable passages and atmospheres. This one, in particular, is, for me, the nightmare on this oniric journey. Making its deserved place in the record. The heavier and angrier of the pack.

Finally "Mein Erwachen" (My Awakening) is again a brilliant song. The title is enigmatic, to say the least... Is this a statement directed to the previous album? Is this a conceptual EP? Well, we don't know, but the music speaks for itself. This one is perhaps the song with the most cerebral composition on the record and is nothing the band has created before but is not unfamiliar, it seems a natural next step for the music of Epiphanie, but it is a contradiction in concept because this is probably as well the most dreamy and hazy song the band has written yet. The german chants are from another realm and the atmosphere from start to finish is dreamlike, there is nostalgia, fear, excitement, curiosity, and a lost land ready for your memories to explore. This feels personal. Honest. But what is it about? Why do I feel I have been in a place I cannot even see? This song is the closer for the EP and is excellent as a closer. It leaves you wanting more! The last moments are filled with energy and life but they end even before you could adapt to this new mood, making you want to listen to the whole thing again and get lost in its complexity or keep yourself together in order to comprehend and understand the musical structure of this piece and the whole effort.

In conclusion, there is not even a second wasted or a filler on this beast. This is pure quality, twenty minutes of glorious music in the form of the most elegant and oniric black metal. Epiphanie elevates itself with its compositions to another level, where its contemporaries can only watch in awe. This is the work of an artist who wants to express himself with music, not because he can, but because he needs to. This is why we listen to music, and why I listen to black metal.

And this is what all EPs should aim for.

Highlights (in hierarchy order): "Der deutsche Michel", "Deutschland, dir ist ein Kind entschlafen", "Mein Erwachen", "Auf verbrannter Erde".