Thorngoth is a black metal band from Germany. Up till seeing the cover of this album I had not ever heard this band or known of their presense in the black metal world, or that this is their third album. After listening to a few tracks and deciding to listen to the two previous releases, it's a noticable jump from their past work to here.
From the opening riff on Leere I the most noticable change is in the overall production of this album, it's much clearer. While neither of the previous two albums sounded terrible, they contained a slightly more raw and dirty quality to them that gave them a very intense and natural feel to them. The cleaner production on here certainly makes this record a lot clearer and more open, compared to their last release, this recording sounds huge.
I found that this record was more of a journey than previous albums, this might be in part to the tracks all having been named from the title except for the central interlude, In Der Leere. Each song kind of had a flow to it that, while the tracks never flowed together, gave the entire record a sense of completeness or sounding full. Each track really has it's own sound and characteristics, yet every song just comes together and fills out this record.
Onto the songwriting, it's black metal done good. This is black metal that is performed well, written well, and recorded well, an overall great black metal record. At first listen I was a bit put off by the relentless intensity earlier songs that reminded me a bit of the blistering assault similar to a band like Dark Funeral, whom I'm not really a fan of, but this record is so much more than an all out aural assault. There are hints of melody, atmospheric, and progressive influences in here as well, not so much that they detract from the overall feeling of being a kvlt band, but enough to certainly make this record infectious and unique. The riffs are catchy, hear Leere IV, while the songs range from intense blast-beating to more dirge-like crawls, not doom metal style though, Leere V.
I have to say that another plus for the album, and the band, is vocalist Akhorahil's tallents as a vocalist. His range is very well utilized throughout the record, making use of everything from standard black metal rasps and screams to more death metal growls and the occasional, hear Leere VI, singing in the typical low, German manner. Being a former member of German atmospheric heavy weights Lunar Aurora doesn't hurt the band either.
Overall, if you want a great sounding, kvlt black metal record this is one that has certainly blown my mind. Very few, pure sounding black metal bands sound this good and retain that kvlt sort of vibe that these guys do. If you like adventurous black metal that is, once again, real black metal at it's core, definitely check this out.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: Leere II, Leere V, Leere VIII
Thanks for your review!
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