Day: October 10, 2012

Der Weg Einer Freiheit is the moniker of a German band that appeared on the scene in 2009 and with Unstille reaches its second album (in addition to an ep released last year). Listening to the self-titled debut had immediately given me the feeling that I was in the presence of something more than the usual band devoted to black metal: in fact, the Bavarian combo can rightfully be placed in this musical strand only because of the furious blast beat that often distinguishes the songs and the abrasive scream of T. J.; otherwise, the stylistic coordinates deviate somewhat from the usual clichés, going into terrain more akin to the Agalloch of Ashes Against The Grain and the Wolves In The Throne Room of Black Cascade. This record further confirms those impressions, showing us a mature band with rather clear ideas: six tracks distributed in a little more than forty minutes in which N.K. and T.J., aided on this occasion by new drummer Tobias S., masterfully alternate melancholic and atmospheric moments with black-style outbursts that envelop, without suffocating them, the engaging melodic lines drawn by the guitar. The lyrics themselves demonstrate Der Weg Einer Freiheit‘s intent to avoid the rehashed anti-Christian, pagan or warlike themes, revealing themselves to be far deeper and geared toward delving into the depths of the human psyche. The very long opener Zeichen, in fact, is a compendium of our band’s qualities, with a quieter first part that later gives way to irresistible accelerations, while the subsequent Lichtmensch proves to be the roughest and most direct track of the entire work. The instrumental Nachtsam takes us back to more introspective and atmospheric territories with a result that can be summed up in one word: wonderful. Zu Grunde and Vergängnis keep the level of the work elevated, which closes just as it had opened, that is, with a long track, Zerfall, that reproposes with taste and balance that alternation of sensations that we have come to recognize in the sound of Der Weg Einer Freiheit. A further merit of Unstille lies in its not being aimed at an audience exclusively devoted to black metal, but also at those who are looking for something different from the simple sonic and conceptual nihilism that too often unites most releases in the extreme sphere. Great record and excellent band, deserving of attention even outside the Teutonic borders.

2012 – Viva Hate Records