Schöpfung

Here we got another highly talented band from my home country Austria. Weltenbrandt are a pretty youngish band and with “Schöpfung” they have presented their full length debut. I have been highly impressed by the level of professionalism and energy presented here as this album is a captivating piece of intelligent and emotional metal.

While each black metal band puts a lot of emphasis on building a sinister atmosphere these lads have gone even a bit further compared to their peers. While the focus is also on the riffs and the relentless tremolo attacks there are a lot of desperate and haunting harmonies dwelling in the background. Eerie themes presented by the lead guitar are always present – sometimes more subtle and in other places as leading elements defining certain parts of the song.

This album is horrifying, harrowing and darkening but also inherits a certain beauty and glimmers of hope. It reminds me of some classics of this sub-genre, but it’s more gloomy and more emotional than most of its peers which certainly means something. It’s captivating, jaw-dropping, relentless and energetic. But it has also atmospheric, calm, slow passages too. The guitar layers are so thick that it requires multiples listens to appreciate the true beauty of this album. From the acoustic pieces to clean, suffocating guitar melodies to melancholic leads to the dirty, infernal riffs - the atmosphere in this album will suck you in and not let go until the last second.

The main-tempo is not that fast compared to traditional black metal band with some ambient parts ramping up the intensity. The song-writing is polished so that the single parts are always merged into fascinating songs and all tracks together form one piece of dark art. There are some really memorable and catchy sections and fans of captivating arrangements to metal for sure will love this effort. The music creates a bleak atmosphere and offers a certain kind of fragility. Melodic elements are always subtly present in the background giving the whole affair an epic character. The band cleverly took the trademark riffs of each track and sliced and diced them to give the songs another layer. Some of the hooks are outstanding so after the second or third listen you will recognize most of the lead lines and it will become easy to distinguish one song from the other and see the whole picture that they wanted to create.

“Schöpfung” comes with a pretty much flawless and powerful production. The mix is clear and the overall sound is very transparent but not sterile. The drums have a nice punch and even the bass is audible. Weltenbrandt have delivered a highly professional product that is easily on par with the works of better known bands. If you like your black metal well-produced and atmospheric yet catchy then this record should be on your list.