Einblick in den Qualenfall

For an entirely different take on advancing black metal with the tools of the past, Germany may not be the first place that comes to mind. Despite the notorious blend of punk and folk found in Absurd, the part troll part genius of Nargaroth, or the back to basics approach of Ungod, Germany never developed a distinctive national identity comparable to their Southern and Northern European counterparts. That’s until we come to The Ruins of Beverast via Nagelfar of course, which started to work in pronounced Germanic traits to a recognisable black metal framework. Descriptive precision may be hard to come by, but the melding of theological influences alongside the blackened doom metal of Bethlehem, and non-Nordic black metal in Samael comes close to an approximation. This finds its apex in acts like Verdunkeln, whose second album ‘Einblick in den Qualenfall’ (2007) collects together these loose ends into a work of breadth and ambition that is also distinctively Germanic.

This is blackened doom metal that is granted weight and gravity not just via the slower tempos, but also in its gradual, patient unfolding of each idea. The guitar is suitably beefed up to cope with the demands of riffs defined by the lackadaisical development of melody, the ringing chords, the layering of tones. A clean, reverb drenched guitar tone functions as the deliverer of lead melody, but it is set low enough in the mix to fade into the general atmosphere and mood of each piece as opposed to becoming a distraction. Vocals largely stick to traditional black metal stylings with melodramatic and goblinoid aural ejaculations. This dangerously close to comical style is supplemented by plenty of clean Gregorian chanting which not only adds another harmonic voice into the mix but also opens out the chasmic spaces at the heart of this music.

Each piece will make use all of these basic elements to unfold slow, meandering blackened doom metal that – although developing ideas and melodic progressions – is primarily focused on setting the mood of each piece. Then as the intensity begins to coalesce into a more solid framework, the drums will pick up the pace with some double bass, dragging the inertia of the throbbing guitars along with them. Accenting each build and fall, a distorted guitar lead may jump out to supplement the clean tones. If the latter represents a sense of spiritual rest, maybe not tranquillity then at least meditation, the former, with the additional abrasion and higher pitches afforded by the overdriven guitar tone adds urgency, conflict, and momentum to the overall arrangement, and this can be expressed without the need to increase the bpm.

This is one of those albums that has such a distinctive, specialised character and atmosphere, that even the black ‘n’ roll number ‘Der Quell’, with its punky drumbeat, positively excited riffs, and jovial clean vocals is entirely supressed in the chasmic murk that drenches this entire album. ‘Einblick in den Qualenfall’ is one of those rare marriages of matter and form, of technique and execution, that leads to new corridors of sonic possibility via methods well established in the past.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

Thunder roars as raindrops pour; walking onto the steps of a citadel monastery with your own hearse at hand. Accompanied by crepuscular faceless beings…they say nothing, but suggest they only have the darkest of intentions. You close your eyes for a second, and when they open you are buried alive, accompanied by the faceless beings. They will forever stare at you, and you will never turn your eyes away. That whole dark painting-like thought is what this album contains. It’s wretched, and cursed, damned by your own imagination. This is one of the darkest records I own. Not to sound cliché, but this album is the best at projecting its darkness. Its beauty is somewhat unique, and very vague.

I don’t remember where I got this album exactly, I must have ordered it at some site, and nonetheless the decision wasn’t regrettable. This album is truly unique, not because of the fact that I haven’t heard anything like it, but because it throws in psychedelic and very melodic aspects of black metal and turns them inside out, tainting them black. Infested plagued waters are what this album float upon. This is by no mean a bad thing, as I said above its unique. Its one downfall is that the album lives for the first two songs alone. In Die Irre and Im Zwiespalt are the two tracks that really could be left alone on this album and it would have my upmost respect. Again, not to sound cliché, but they are the essence of black metal; dark, evil, and a hint of beauty.

The one aspect I loved most about Einblick In Den Qualenfall is its ability to use non-typical black metal structure and turn it into a black metal album. Blast beats are few and far between, and solos take lead in many of the songs most intense moments. I’ll stick with Im Zwiespalt as the big example to use. This song alone almost seems doom-y. Marching riffs take lead in the songs last moments, and I mean they simply remain hypnotic to the mind. It’s not to say this whole album takes that direction, but for the first two songs, it gives the album so much strength. The drums sound as if they were completely drenched by some...dark liquid with more viscosity than water which are accompanied by two guitars. One guitar sounds as though the sound has been drugged and taken underwater to amplify itself, and the second guitar sounds a lot cleaner. After Im Zwiespalt, this album quickly picks up pace. This is where the psychedelic part of the record really shines. It’s now a monster that has simply on the move differentiating itself from any other. I think that is what really gives this album power; it takes advantage of this non-formulaic structure and uses it to the best of its ability.

Production-wise, this is only slightly better than the self-titled demo ‘Verdunkeln’. Verdunkeln was a demo that was a teaser trailer for this album. They really tested unmarked grounds with the demo, and I must say that the way it evolved into Einblick In Den Qualenfall is just phenomenal. They picked apart the unsavory parts of the demo and didn’t necessarily throw them away but made them better! The formula didn’t change much per se from first demo to this album, but they took advantage of their sound and created something truly of its own. I would say this album has made a huge example of itself by telling it’s listeners that it’s not all blastbeats and tremolo picking that makes a great and classic black metal album. That in itself says more than an essay long review ever could.

I acquired this album through a blind purchase and then realized that I had a promo copy sitting in my stack the whole time. In this case, it's a fortunate little mistake, as it gives me an extra copy of 'Einblick In Den Qualenfall' to share with someone else. It's an album worth sharing.

Verdunkeln plays a thoroughly modern style of murky, psychedelic black metal that borrows pretty considerably from the 'Hvis Lyset Tar Oss' book, though it's not quite a direct clone. It's different as far as atmosphere and aim goes, anyway, since most of the elements are almost identical: the repetitive, hypnotic riffing, distantly screamed vocals, tempos ranging from fairly plodding to somewhere in the realm of upper midpace, drumming centered around double bass and rock beats, etc. The major differences are a matter of aesthetic, really, but it's a major enough difference that it doesn't really sound very much like Burzum at all when you get down to it. One could call mid-era Burzum psychedelic or progressive, but you could probably imagine that both of those elements were more things that got carved out through a particular style of songwriting and structuring rather than any intentional application of the terms. Verdunkeln makes hypnotic, psychedelic black metal with the intention of being such.

In truth, without the production present, this wouldn't be nearly as great an album as it is. The drums are soaked in huge amounts of thunderous reverb like it's trying to be a Skepticism album, and there's nearly always two layers of guitars: one normal distorted electric guitar, and a semi-clean one with some sort of underwater effect applied. The sound as a whole is very thick and rich, with dark waves of distortion rolling over the texture of these simple songs with an even, steady, hypnotic flow. The contrast of the two guitar sounds is immensely effective, with the standard distortion generally playing very simple two or three-chord tremolo riffs while the clean guitar picks out more intricate but equally repetitive leads over the top of the base (though 'over the top' is probably a bad prepositional phrase to use in a sonic space as cloudy and tangled as this one is). All the instruments seem buried within one another, with only the bass drums really forming a ground floor for the rest of the album to rest on. A synth is occasionally used, but it's nearly unnoticeable, relegated to a background role, simply functioning as another harmonic voice amongst the immense guitar presence.

Songs can generally be divided into two categories: strictly Burzum-style midpaced, shimmering black metal, and a more hard rock influenced take on the style while still retaining the basic stylistic elements of the former. 'Im Zwiespalt', the centerpiece of the first style, is an utterly immense track, both in length and in narrative scope, which grows almost painfully slowly, through a quiet buildup of storm sounds and feedback before a false start takes place; like a black metal 'Phobophile', the guitar feedback leads not to a burst of dogmatic riffing, but to a sole, murky guitar, soaked in reverb and underwater effects, before a short tom fill announces the presence of the distorted guitar, and a bit later, the drums. The whole sequence of preparing the song, getting it to finally move, takes about two minutes. This is an album that takes its time in all things; not a moment is rushed, and everything is carried out as long as necessary to truly present this unified aesthetic of surreal, dark, and dreamlike beauty. The lingering held chords and wailing lead guitar that drive this track forward are a standout not only on this album, but for black metal, representing one of the closest approximations of the 'Hvis Lyset Tar Oss' style probably in black metal's history.

The other black metal tracks are solid, but of course nowhere near the majesty of 'Im Zwiespalt'; they're benighted merely by their inability to live up to the perfection of that song, although on their own they would still be better than 95% of current black metal. But on to the next portion: the more hard rocking songs. Beginning with 'Der Quell''s unusually dramatic and overstated clean vocals, subdued lead guitar, and strangely hesitant drumming, a very different side of the band is portrayed. This is music that is most certainly black metal, but also raised on the spirit of '70s psychedelic rock, and additionally with a not-insignificant influence from classic German artists such as Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. Of this archtype, the best track is, not really surprisingly, the closest to black metal: 'Auf Freiem Felde', with its medieval vocal melody and epic, marching rhythm right out of the Bathory handbook. The other rock tracks are good, but probably the weakest point on the album.

I notice that I haven't really been singing 'Einblick In Den Qualenfall''s praises, so let me correct that: this is a fucking immense album. As far as artists that approach the spirit of mid-era Burzum, I haven't found a single one that's achieved such a close sound, and even moreso, without sacrificing an ounce of independent identity. Verdunkeln is a band that is still somehow unknown by the majority of the metal scene, which truly amazes me, as I'd think that music of this sort of grandeur and brilliance just couldn't be hidden for long. 'Einblick In Den Qualenfall' is one of very few albums I own that I regularly play simply due to how wonderful it is on every level. In short: you owe it to yourself to acquire this album. It's a masterpiece of modern black metal, and is a direct continuation of 'Hvis Lyset Tar Oss'' subtle beauty. Excellent music to listen to in complete darkness.