First album in vinyl version. Raw and Misanthropic Old School Black metal project from Germany.
"Cults of the Most Primitive Worship" - When this promo reached me, I immediately raised an eyebrow. The name either suggests the deepest bow to the orthodox black metal underground I've ever seen, or it's mocking this very sub-scene on a meta level. The solo project TOT AUS DEM WALD (Dead from the Forest) is quite serious about this motto, however.
The musician behind it (he calls himself "Das Kakophonieä") is free of any arrogance and shines in the accompanying press release primarily with understatement. It's "no Vivaldi," after all, and generally, no exaggerated expectations are created. This makes the surprise all the greater when you put the CD in. The nine tracks crash down on me like a thunderstorm and give me a good thrashing in under 25 minutes. I haven't experienced a black metal band in a long time that writes songs that are sometimes shorter than two minutes. I'm usually only familiar with such brief bursts of violence from war metal, a genre TOT AUS DEM WALD occasionally draws upon, but never fully embraces. However, they can also be atmospheric, as demonstrated by 'Berge der Hölle' (Mountains of Hell). This track is a real outlier compared to the album's predominantly relentless onslaught. Even these contrasts are held together by their fundamentally traditional approach. This cacophonous band started making music under the TOT AUS DEM WALD banner in 1997 and has maintained the then-prevailing black metal style in their work ever since. The screams are incredibly harsh and distorted, while the riffs sound as if they were imported straight from Bergen in 1994. This is certainly nothing the world hasn't heard before. However, it's also refreshing to simply have a "classic black metal album" in front of you for once.
'Morgene der Hölle' (Mountains of Hell) Here you won't find any anti-cosmic, Gnostic song titles that require a degree to pronounce correctly, nor a genre mix encompassing 300 different styles. Don't get me wrong, I also enjoy avant-garde, post-black metal, and occult, orthodox albums, but in a time when everyone takes themselves far too seriously, this is a welcome change. Track names like "Weg ins Dunkel" (Path into Darkness) or "Bringer der Zerstörung" (Bringer of Destruction) might be considered a bit cheesy, but at the same time, they represent a time in black metal when not every other musician felt they had to either memorize the Kabbalah or strive to have their lyrics discussed on a satirical TV show.
All in all, "Kulte Primitivster Verehrung" (Cultural Most Primal Reverence) is a very solid debut album (after the project has only released demos for the past 23 years). Of course, "Dead from the Forest" isn't going to change the world, but as mentioned at the beginning, that's not the solo artist's goal. It's a tribute to the early heroes of the 90s, and in that respect, it's a very good effort. With a playing time of just over 24 minutes, any interested black metal fan can quickly listen to the album beforehand and decide for themselves whether they want to add it to their collection. Personally, I feel my attention is very well invested in this album.
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=8XVNxf-TmNs&t=757s
