Akt I: Ein Feuer entfacht

Skratte is a one man band created by Hevnbrann in Germany with lyrics written in German. For me this debut full length album came out of the blue and I wouldn’t believe this band consists of only one man if you told me. It is really hard to summarize the style of Skratte’s music shortly so I hope I can give some idea to what is going on in this debut album Akt 1: Ein Feuer entfacht. The basis of the album is mostly atmospheric black metal. But there is a lot of rawness and varied twists on the album that evoke different emotions. Many songs have slower parts with acoustic guitars that break into faster more generic black metal parts with all the tremolo-picking guitars and so forth. Some songs have surprising moments with melodies, riffs and ideas that come forth from a few different genres. Like melodic death metal and folk for example.

After hearing the first three songs of the record. I think wow this is interesting and there is potential here, but what is the deal with this band? Then comes fourth song of the album which is an acoustic guitar interlude. After this it is all about a pure storm of different ideas that come together. If the first songs of the album start the fire on the skulls as seen on the album cover then it is now time to witness how forest demons dance around the fire. Somehow in my mind I connect some moments I hear with bands like Finntroll and Forefather. All this with a touch of Norwegian characteristics mixed in, the old and the new. Hevnbrann manages to implement ideas from many places without directly sounding like another band or artist.

Like the varied vocal work so is the Skratte’s style of black metal. I mean Hevnbrann’s vocals alone have screams, deeper and higher pitched growls, chanting, falsettos and almost some sing-a-long type of moments and throw in some UGH! And funny parts that resemble a goblin or some sort of demon maybe a forest demon as the name Skratte is reference to. Production on the album to my ears is pretty much on par with the material, not mainstream, but not recorded under a pile of dirt either. To me the high points of the album are the middle and ending parts of the album.

I respect artists the most when I can hear their creative and imaginative side come to life through their music. On this album all the different creative choices make this album stand out more from the rest and the result is very enjoyable. This is a very special album at times and a very great one in my mind but it is not perfect. It doesn’t need to be. It’s equal parts dirty and beautiful. And while there are some fireworks here and there on the album it is still held together with the overall sound and feel that lasts from the opening song to the last. In a way the album manages to have an epic feel when you have come to the last song on the album before the outro. Not in a bombastic way, but in way that you feel like you truly stepped out into a story that’s told by the creator of Skratte. Maybe a sense of wonder is the thought I’m looking for. Black metal that is raw, beautiful, sad and at times funny… oh boy. Am I crazy? Maybe. All in all I think this is an awesome debut album. A true gem of the year in my books and I don’t even understand German language so getting the full experience was not quite there, but I am really looking forward to hearing Akt 2 or whatever else comes next from Skratte.