Kältetod

Sieghetnar is very new to the scene, being something like four years old tops, and also seemingly being one of thousands of myspace-shitty-black-metal bands polluting the Internet and our ears, but has managed to surprise a few people, and has gained somewhat of a reputation among the international underground even though very little (if anything at all) is known about the musicians themselves. That said, I always have my doubts about new bands, especially those who release three full lengths in one year (this album being the third full length released in 2008) but this time it was worth it.

What we have here is a black metal/ambient act with everything you'd expect: Lengthy songs, wide use of keyboards and slow paces dominate this sound-scape, but don't be fooled, this is not your average Burzum-spin-off pretentiously exaggerated and mindbogglingly boring black ambient band, oh no. My main problem with most depressive or ambient black metal acts is the fact that they don't seem to understand that, apart from creating a nice atmosphere, they need to know how to hold it, and not stretch the song long past the point of bearability, leading to the creation of albums full of half-decent, half-boring-as-fuck songs. But these guys (guy? I really don't know) here, know their science, and have created the perfect mix of depressive, slow and repetitive black ambient, and plenty of absorbing and everchanging melodies and textures to keep you entertained.

Apart from that, the whole rhythm of the album remains uninterrupted. With this I mean that the natural flow that this kind of music creates on the listener becomes a wide stream that takes you floating away and makes you forget time even exists. I've listened to this album in repeat three times and still don't feel I've had enough, I don't feel this album actually ends, it feels, at the same time, infinite and incredibly short. This is the sensation most, if not all, ambient acts strive for, and only a few actually achieve. This band might as well be the epitome of ambient black metal. There, I said it.

But wait, there's still more! Among the quite excellent black ambient galore, there's still room for excellent and complex musicianship, mainly by the hand of keyboards majestically executed, creating the main melodies as the fuzzy riffs slide underneath them creating a metaphorical river in which these little boats float away, and then, for example in the second song (right about the 19 min. mark, give or take a few seconds), there's this few minutes of completely different music, I can't really call it black metal anymore, it's just playing with rhythm and melody, and it just, somehow, works wonders for the whole mood of the song and album. I keep listening to this, and it keeps surprising me, with every listen there's something new to be found.

I've listened to all the full lengths by this band and actually own two (Kältetod being one of them, the other being Bewußtseinserweiterung) and this is probably their most unique album so far. The only negative thing I have to say about this is the length, which, surprisingly is considerably short (four songs, only one of which surpasses the 10 min. mark. You gotta admit it's pretty short next to their other releases and for an ambient black metal band altogether). I highly recommend this album to anyone who enjoys ambient black metal. This is a great album to start with this band, mainly due to the aforementioned overall length. If you like this album, and feel you could have some more from this band, give the rest of their albums a try. I'm sure you'll not regret it.

Originally written for the paper version of the Terror Cult Zine
http://www.terrorcultprod.glt.pl/