Recorded during April / October 2019.
New EP by this Black Metal band from Poland. For fnas of early Kvist, Isvind, Forest, Branikald…This album is dedicated to the memory of George Trakl (1887 – 1914) and Marcelina Kulikowska (1872 – 1910). The rest does not matter…. We are the dust…
Vermisst plays oldfashioned and cold Paranormal Black Metal in the vein of the most eerie spells from Kvist, old Manes, Asakku or early Satyricon.
Released at the dawn of 2020 on CD format, Zmierzch Stalowej Ciemności was VERMISST's first, fuller-length strike since their formation in 2018. Despite being a relatively new entity, the band's sound is undoubtedly OLD, hailing the old gods of their Polish homeland's rich black metal heritage. Cryogenically cold, unremittingly grim, shrouded in a mysticism rich in ancient splendor, VERMISST are thoroughly mid '90s Polish black metal for a modern world too long neglectful of the Old Ways. Pure and proud, Zmierzch Stalowej Ciemności is poignant proof that classicism endures no matter the decade, and that ever-so-subtle twists on tradition can result in resoundingly "new" manifestations worthy of that noble lineage.
Belath – guitar
Vorghast – vocals
Kvalvaag – keys
Session members:
Vlambré – bass
Bloodwhip – guitar
Vulgrim – drums
Material was recorded during april / october 2019.
Music: Vermisst, lyrics: Vorghast
Mix and mastering Kvalvaag.
Front cover art by Vorghast and Nightwolf
Layout by Heresie Graphics
Vermisst’s debut EP slams together dreamscapes with militarism as qualities that were both inherent in black metal when the genre was still taking shape. It’s an emotive call to arms that combines simple, sweeping riffs with charming, ethereal keyboards (informed by synth pop as much as they are Burzum), and aggressive, mid-ranged vocals with more human qualities than is typical. Applying this effective marriage to trancelike, mid-paced blast-beats, with clockwork regularity to the tempo shifts, makes for a familiar yet pleasing experience.
Vermisst aren’t doing anything particularly special here. They have taken the obscurity of say Russian black metal in the likes of Forest and combined it with early Dimmu Borgir or Satyricon in their well placed use of keyboards to both invoke pathos and elevate the otherwise simple riffs. So the takeaway from this EP is a band shifting the same elements that everyone else is using around a little, and suddenly you get a work that is genuinely engaging, as opposed to one that we have to really squint at to tell apart from the last five we listened to. Therefore, ‘Zmierzch Stalowej Ciemności’ sounds like a band enjoying and excelling at their craft as opposed to one that is ticking the boxes required for a mid-90s worshipping black metal project.
By taking the simplest of black metal riffs articulated by thin, tremolo picked guitars and repetitive, inconspicuous drums, they then layer up variations into this central backbone, at one point soaring keyboards will rise out of the mix, maybe the drums will fade out completely pausing our momentum, accenting further the qualities to the other instruments. The point is that nothing is overdone, each idea is taken and explored to its fullest in a manner similar to early Burzum. It’s almost music that is not interested in the listener’s needs; a trait all too common to modern projects gestating in the womb of social media and Spotify. Whether they fear an audience with a short attention span, or want to please as many in the crowd as possible by stuffing every track with a confusing mess of conflicting ideas; none of that is present here.
We’re left with a pleasing ambient number to close in ‘Det Skjulte’ which is pure Burzum worship augmented by some Tangerine Dream smarts that Varg probably never had. But again, it’s worth reiterating that veterans of black metal will find nothing mind blowing in this release. It’s simply a demonstration of what a difference it can make when an artist actually loves their craft over second guessing what they think a potential audience would want. The same elements are present in works of lesser quality, but on ‘Zmierzch Stalowej Ciemności’ everything has been placed with care, next to elements that compliment each other, and all ideas are carried out and explored with patience to their fullest potential before we are satisfied and ready to move on to the next stage in the journey.
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