Nebelwind "Ruinen - Der Verfall des Seins und die Angst vor dem Vergessen" CD Digipack

Co-released with Wolfmond Productions

Nebelwind from Dresden captivates with a richly decorated Black Metal and a very interesting topic. For all friends of German Black steel! The professionally pressed CD comes in a beautiful digisleeve made of natural cardboard and with a twelve-page booklet. Limited to 150 hand-numbered copies

Another very interesting release on Schattenpfade is the debut full length by Dresden based two men band Nebelwind. Having been formed in 2013 it took a few years before they have finally presented themselves to a broader audience via three EPs, all having been recorded in 2018. Their album “Ruinen” offers 45 minutes of quite traditional black metal, walking the fine line between going for a raw and gritty sound, but showing a great feeling for extended melodies and harmonies at the same time. Based on that this record is a great gem for fans of classic old school black metal brought to the present times.
Nebelwind deliver a very frosty and classic vibe and mood, thanks to the atmospheric guitar riffs. The feel inside is rather hostile and misanthropic, which is well compensated by the melancholy emitted from the other side. Tempo variations are thrown in for good measure, and you can expect anything varying from blasting furies, to groovier parts, to some slower patterns. Most of the time the songs are kept in mid-tempo, giving the guitar harmonies the room they need, with the melodies and riffs bleeding one into another and building the core to a fantastic slab of music.
Some of the songs tend to fade away and then begin to come to life again, mounting toward a plateau of ominous and magisterial sound and then flying higher, filling the senses in a cyclonic storm of pummeling drums, raking riffs, and madly flickering leads, with the vocalist Ködarnyek throwing in his gritty chants, delivered in a quite low and growly attitude. Certain parts fall into an abyss of swirling ebon dissonance, using flourishes of subtle psychedelia and unrelenting brutality to accent the more or less standard black metal core building the backbone of the instrumentation and songwriting.
There’s a certain rawness to the guitars on this record, especially in the rough, ragged-edged tone the band have chosen here, which gives their music a purposefully primitive, though not entirely unrefined, feel. Some of the chord progressions and harmonies have a very melancholic and nostalgic undertone, lending the album a somewhat depressive black metal edge as well. The lyrical content complements this kind of mournful feeling, making this album a perfect fit for this time of the year.
The drumming is fine, although I am not sure if programming has been used or if the lads had a guest doing some live recordings. The overall sound is fitting to the music and the mood, and while a little bit of refinement and power in the mix would not have hurt this approach perfectly resonates with the feeling of this album. All in all “Ruinen” is a wonderful example of raw, atmospheric and passionate black metal for fans of the genre. While maybe a bit rough around the edges I can only recommend to grab a copy of this album for the collection.

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