Des Unheils Geburt

It is always good to see when a band is willing to evolve and does not try to remain on a certain evolutionary level; merely to be described as cult. Imber has improved a lot since their first demo and their music has become quite interesting through this. Not only is it possible to notice this time a production, but also the songs are more structured and therefore better able to follow than on their first demo; I would call it a better rehearsal.

From what I can make out on their second demo, the days of a raw and unbalanced production are likely to be over. Even though there is still room for improvement, those five tracks are pretty good to listen to. Compared to their first work, Imber has improved in terms of song-writing and therefore the structure is better recognizable; the chaos which was inherent in the songs from the first demo is no longer present. Instead these five songs are quite solid in terms of the song-writing, but the quality varies over the length of the record. Even though the band uses different tempi in their songs, on this demo the slower ones are those in which the band’s potential can be examined best. Himmelshass as well as the title track are the outstanding tracks on this demo.

Several aspects annoy me on this demo. The first is how the demo opens: right up to 100 miles per hour. It can discussed which effect an intro has on a release and on the atmosphere, but in terms on this demo at least some sort of introduction would be nice; and not this ‘let us play and rock’ attitude; this is not Punk. Even though the band has progressed and the songs are quite good to listen to, I constantly have the feeling like have heard some of the ideas before. Especially the first part of the demo has a lot of moments which sound in some respect familiar. Lyrics and Black Metal is always a tricky thing and I will not comment them in any way if the band does not overstretch my patience; like Dark Funeral does. There is nothing which has not been said before on this topic and presumably some kind of cliché has to be appealed; for whatever reason. As Imber uses German lyrics I am actually able to figure out what concept behind their songs lies. The contrary is generally the case by listening to bands from other countries and by not reading the booklet. Therefore it is possible to neglect the issue in terms of several bands.

This demo could be described as one step forward on the road to further ‘evil’. By improving the production the band was able to transfer their message in a more proper and adequate way and was therefore able to shed light on the band’s potential; if they will able to use it remains written in the stars. If there is one aspect I would emphasize and criticize than it would be that the compositions sound a little bit plain and generic. ‘Himmelshass’ is perhaps the best track on the demo and is pretty enjoyable, while the preceding one sounds strange due to the lyrics. Interesting five tracks of a young band are offered here and I wonder how their next record might sound. Another such leap forward – compared to the first demo – is not what I expect, yet by diminishing the current flaws, another good deal of improvement might be possible to achieve. A seventy-point score would be too high and I would not feel comfortable to give such a high rating, therefore 65 points have to be enough for now.