Issued in 4-panel Digipak with 12-page booklet including the lyrics. Recorded between August and December 2007.
The songs "Gerechter Lohn" and "Wotans Wilde Jagd" were already published on the album Halgadom - Verdunkelung Des Göttlichen. It was the wish of the current band members to record it again with the actual musicans.
It’s become cliche for a prolific band, perhaps after a lapse of creativity, to unplug its guitars, strip away most complexities, and go for an entirely acoustic release. For an established metal band especially, the shift entails even greater risks of not executing the style well or of alienating fans. “Heimstatt” is an acoustic album that succeeds, not only as a change of pace on Halgadom's part but also as a serious contender within the neofolk genre. Even though it’s questionable whether or not the band will do more neofolk releases, Halgadom take up the style so well that maybe, just maybe, they’ve been concentrating on the wrong genre this whole time.
The album feels like a collection of campfire songs. Minimalistic in approach, each track is a simple composition of strummed acoustic guitars, tasteful orchestral instruments, and sing-song vocal lines. The deep, dispassionate German vocals, the clear sound of the guitars, and the ballad-like song structures will remind neofolk fans of Darkwood. Whereas most neofolk acts only utilize more imposing percussion instruments like timpani, the music here is backed up by a typical drum kit and bass guitar. The drums, while sticking mainly to the same rockish pace, sound very much like those in Empyrium’s “Weiland.” In fact, the entire production has a very organic quality that gives the music a powerful resonance, while also giving it room to breathe.
“Heimstatt” is so simple and so unassuming that it’s an album that risks being underestimated, but it is simplicity that makes the release profound. As is customary of neofolk, Halgadom create atmosphere without resorting to frilly keyboards, dramatic spoken word passages, or distracting electronic noises. The album is a very fluid combination of melancholy and ambivalence, pride and nostalgia, stoicism and triumph. It is neither poetically sorrowful like Empyrium’s “Weiland,” nor is it overtly political like many neo-pagan works. Halgadom are simply playing music they enjoy and, by taking up a style with which they so sincerely and culturally identify, the band makes a much more intimate connection with the listener.
Yes, “Heimstatt” is completely inoffensive. Yes, it’s digestible and easy to listen to. But folk, with its roots in tradition and history, is perhaps the most human of all genres. It requires a lack of artifice, and Halgadom perform the style just as well as established neofolk groups do. “Heimstatt” is not for those looking for happy polka music, technical flamboyance, or preachy paganism. Just because it doesn’t try hard to earn the listener’s favor doesn’t mean that the album should be ignored. As Germans playing German folk, Halgadom don’t play dress-up, and they don’t need to. “Heimstatt” is just fine as it is.
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
