Feuerwalze

Black metal has always been an excellent place to make songs about the horrors and atrocities of war, some do it great, others, not so much, but a band that has become something of true underground stalwarts while singing about “The Great War” or “The War to End All Wars”, aka WW1, is Minenwerfer off the U.S. who in 2023 will return with their long anticipated fourth album Feuerwalze, to be released through Osmose Productions.

Minenwerfer are indeed a USBM band that has become quite revered in the underground, their style of black metal is a smorgasbord of Marduk and Blasphemy speed, with Immortal-esque epic melodies, that classic USBM sense of brutality, and some martial industrial atmospheres from acts like Arditi or Death In June. The band’s third record Alpenpässe definitely showed those elements and more, but more impressively is how the band with this new record have swerved in a direction that’s simultaneously a lateral step from the previous album, while also staying true to their roots.

For starters and this is what will become quite apparent for everyone hearing, this is the bands darkest and most punishing album yet. The guitars and bass are a constant assault to the senses, even in mid-paced sections of the songs, the band simply does not let up, and even the warlike atmospheres like the stomping of marching boots, explosions, wails of dying soldiers only enhance how utterly relentless the album is. The fact that this music is the work of just two people is also noteworthy.

So, does that mean that the band traded the melodic and atmosphere from the previous record? The answer is no, while this record isn’t as sprawling and enthralling as Alpenpässe, that does not mean that the band have dialed back their more technical leanings, but rather they’re refined and applied on more compact songs (in that 8 minutes is more easily digestible than a 17 minute long epic), this can be heard in the excellent third track ‘Eternal Attrition’ this song opens and closes with mid-paced drumming, and has an extended bridge section where the band still display their knack for wall of noise guitar layers to create ambiance which complement the wailing vocals, and is then followed by guitarist and drummer Wachtmeister Verwüstung bursting out an epic and very melodic and progressive solo. And this constant shifting of paces while keeping the sonic intensity is heard in all the album.

On a technical and instrumental level, Minenwerfer have always been a cut above the rest, as both Generalfeldmarschall Kriegshammer (vocals, bass, rhythm guitars) and Wachtmeister Verwüstung (lead guitars, drums) are outstanding musicians, in fact, their technical proficiency is what makes Minenwerfer such an acclaimed anomaly within USBM and black metal at large, and Feuerwalze is their definitive statement on how proficient they are, as they take all their strengths from previous albums, refined them and still managed to have the same grit and intensity of classic black metal. And finally, because the band are so technically proficient, the production on this record is exquisite, its clean enough to hear the duo flex their chops, but it's not too clean that the music sounds sterile or over polished, it's just right and the sound is thoroughly enhanced, and the solos, bass and vocals benefit the most, the crisp but piercing wailing solos of Wachtmeister Verwüstung will elicit an approving grimace, the bass of Generalfeldmarschall Kriegshammer is groovy and pulsing, not to mention distinct enough that it isn’t lost among the guitars or atmosphere, and his throat searing vocals are as violent as ever. All in all, an excellently produced and extremely well mixed and balanced record that truly displays how good black metal can sound with a proper production that also plays to the strengths of natural performances.

Overall, Minenwerfer triumphed again, and more than proved why they’ve become such an acclaimed USBM act. My only complaint is that they’re not playing live gigs anymore, but that’s besides the point of how good this record is.