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Monday, June 21, 2010

Thränenkind/Heretoir - Wiedersehen - Unsere Hoffnung




The Day That Is Life.

Thränenkind and Heretoir are both post-black metal bands from Germany. Both projects feature a man under the name of Nathanael in them, while he is the main writer for Thränenkind, he is just the bassist and back-up vocalist in Heretoir. Both projects feature similar sounds and do work well together.
Both projects do some fairly unique takes on the same genre, while Thränenkind has been praised for their take on shoegaze melodies mixed with some of the best atmospheric black metal in recent years, Heretoir take a more aggressive approach to the style with much more anger demonstrated. The two manage to work seamlessly fluid together on this split, with Heretoir contributing 2 tracks, Thränenkind contributing 1 track as well as the intro and outro to the split, and then the two of them collaborating on a track.
Thränenkind start things off on the EP with a beautiful piano intro that sets the mood for the entire release. The song they contribute, Posthuma, really is a bit different from their previous work, featuring much more odd tempo shifts, but it still keeps the catchy melodies throughout the entire track. The outro on here is just as beautiful as the intro, keeping the piano as the only instrument, and a perfect closer to the album.
Heretoir's tracks are a bit more in the vein of their older material to say, with slower patterns and much more ambient soundscapes. Graue Bauten is the track that focuses more on the black metal side of the project, with buzzing guitars, building atmospheres, and harsh screams. Nihil is the song that focuses on the lighter side of the band, the side with post-rock, shoegaze, and ambient music, using acoustic guitars and clean vocals for most of the track.
The title-track, Wiedersehen - Unsere Hoffnung, is a collaboration between the two projects. This track is perfectly fitting for a collaboration, featuring aggressive sections that are raw and razor sharp sounding, while the mellow sections are atmospheric and very progressive. While both of these elements carry through the track exquisitely, there is still a melodic side to this entire track that makes it very easy to get into. If you only heard one track off of this release, this would be the one to hear.
Overall this is a very good split that showcases two of the best artists to come out of the whole post-black metal/blackgaze scene. Definitely worth looking into for fans of experimental and progressive music for sure. This is going to be a hard thing to top for bands in this genre.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Posthum, Wiedersehen - Unsere Hoffnung, Nihil

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