Track 5 is NOT a Burzum cover. Here is what Thorkraft wrote about that: "Bei dem Stück "Gebrechlichkeit" handelt es sich nicht um eine cover version von Burzum, sondern lediglich an eine Huldigung seiner Werke".
OK, so I already made an introduction to the band in my previous review (which should have been the first one, since it's for their last album so far), so I won't spend much time on this. I'll only mention the fact that in said review I stated that this band might very well be the epitome of ambient black metal, and I still hold to that statement, but don't let that fool you, this album is far from that ambient perfection achieved in latter albums.
The album starts with a faustous intro, which is the only time in the whole album the keyboards take the lead, thankfully, because even though keyboards are more elaborated in this album, they still go undetected at parts, making great use of them in the means of creating steady ambiance. There are also some sound effects now and then, the sound of rain and thunder, your usual black metal imagery.
Guitars are louder and a bit harsher but still manage to produce that wonderful tone completely unique to this band, it sort of sounds like the buzzing of a washing machine or an old A.C., which makes for a soothing experience even in the most aggressive parts of the music. It's almost a drone-y feeling if you will.
Another great difference with future releases is that, in this album I can actually hear vocals, which are harsh and medium-pitched, mixed considerably low in the mix but not unlistenable, they're there and you'll notice them, but like in many other bands, the vocals become another instrument, another sound mixed in the great flow of the music as a whole, therefore from time to time I don't feel like I'm listening to a guy growling at a mic, but rather feels like it's an extra guitar with some awesome and eerie effects.
The drumming is quite neat, has a nice sound to it, not too high on the mix but still dominates the rhythm at it's will. They're also considerably varied, changing constantly, even periodically, which helps keeping boredom at bay. They go from slow, Burzum-like drumming (4/4 hi-hats in every beat, one bass drum hit on the first beat and a snare hit on every third beat, you know) to fast and relentless blastbeats. On that note, the use of blastbeats is not overdone and actually aids to the ambiance (Even though not as much as in albums like Bewußtseinserweiterung, now THAT'S an incredible blend of blastbeats and interrupted, calm ambiance), something that not that many bands can get away with (the only one I can think of right now is Inferi's What Once Shined).
The album overall is far more violent than future releases, thus the ambiance is not as dominant, not to mention songs aren't as long as they'd eventually evolve to become, there being two 6min songs, two 8min songs and only one song over the 10min mark (that being the Burzum "cover"). This album does not reveal the great ambient tendency these guys (or guy, who knows) are able to manufacture, but overall it's a better piece of black metal per se than other releases which are more on the ambient side. There seems to be an aggressive-passive progression in this band, which is fine for me, since both their more "violent" releases and their more "ambient" releases are both superb. One last thing worth mentioning is the Burzum cover of the song Gebrechlichkeit, which is quite original, far better than any version of this song I've listened off the numberless tribute albums floating around, although it's not 100% (or, I'm gonna be honest, even closely) loyal to the original song, and at times sounds unrecognizable. The song even includes drum lines which start out sounding like a tribute to Varg's dull drumming but subsequently becomes more and more complex and fast (not too much though). But this cover truly accomplishes the mirroring of the song when it comes to the feeling of isolation and total death the original song brings. It would be like a different approach to the original song, which holds the original feeling and central melody but changes absolutely everything else, much to my amazement and amusement (for a relatively similar event, listen to Avathar's cover of Ulver'sss Utreise or even Zergheyth's masterfully arranged version of Burzum's Tomhet).
The thing with Sieghetnar, and some might thing this is actually a negative thing, is that most songs sound a lot like each other, but this in fact only manages to fabricate a complete and unbroken piece of musical art, a whole experience instead of separate songs to focus on. This album, and this band, are not meant to make you focus but, on the contrary, make your mind blurry and take you to a trance-y state of relaxation. And I know most ambient bands aim to that, but as I mentioned in my other review for this band, these guys can pull that trick better than most, if not better than all other ambient bands. I mean, their albums show a clear evolution (As I mentioned) from a more straight-forward but still ambient-oriented black metal to a completely ambient-dominated music which at times stops being black metal and becomes pure, even sort of droning, ambiance. I myself prefer their more ambient albums, they feel more original and work amazingly, but this release is incredible on it's own credits. Dark, ambient, relentless black metal for the true lovers of multifunctional music.
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