Blue Miasma

A 'miasma' is a (coloured or not) cloud, or fog, that would spread disease and death. So judging by the title of this album, we would be treated with a storm of musical hate and violence (quite suitable for Krieg) but...

Bluntly put, Krieg's eagerly awaited swansong is a disappointment.
Why? Blue Miasma has good songs, follows the musical path of the Black House, has a (too?) long playing time, has an almost perfect production (even the bassguitar is audible), has an 'atmosphere', ... What's missing then?
Simple: Krieg.

With 'The Great Beast trembled within Nightmare' Blue Miasma does have a perfect intro, filled with a slow, ever so threatening stream of sound, this should've been the gate to more of this 'goodness'. And for a while this is the case. Numbers like 'Who shall stand against me' (think 'Sickening Voices without Speech'), with it's simple yet oh so efféctive drums, and that powerful, heavy guitarsound, and 'The Blue Mist', with an enormous, slow (but therefor no less destructive) riff, are plain kíllers, that on their own would justify the purchase of this album, but unfortunately, it goes downhill from this point. And the last Krieg-album should be more than 'a couple of good songs'. 'Under an Uncaring Moon' for instance, has another slow riff, but once again, something is 'missing'... What? You guessed it: Krieg.

Lord Imperial (and guests) uses his voice in a lot of ways, guitar and bass work together so good, the drums bear and coördinate the rest of the music, and that's what the problem is here. The drums that acted like horrible storms in the background (best shown on the Patrick Bateman EP) are more structurated, the guitars that used to have the effect of falling rocks on the listener, are blunted here, and 'just produce riffs', ... This isn't a bad album by far, but once again, it isn't Krieg.

There are still songs left like 'Every Wound Burned' that give one hope (but then again, there are also songs like 'The Master's Voice' which could have been brilliant, but poorly executed by the over-the-top voice), but ultimately, when 'The Forest Beneath the Sea' draws to a close, and the guitars fade out for the last time... One's hunger isn't completely stilled. Was this the end? Is this Krieg's Swansong? Yes, and actually, that alone makes this album worth buying.