Nachtfalke
Hail Victory Teutonia
[Christhunt]
A long-awaited first CD from the German heathen horde. Occulta Mors, the man behind this formation, is well known to black metal underground as a musical mastermind of the legendary MOONBLOOD cult. Prior to this CD, NACHTFALKE has released two vinyl splits, a 7" with SURTURS LOHE (presenting a cover of DARKTHRONE's "Transilvanian Hunger", which managed to have even shittier sound than the original...no, that's not a bad thing) and a 12" with LUROR (all material therein has also appeared on this CD).
Variety is a keyword here. Dedicated MOONBLOOD fans will most likely be disappointed by most (but not all) tracks of the album. Between eleven songs lasting for almost 80 minutes, Occulta Mors explores the whole spectre of black metal-related music, from minimalist, raw yet hauntingly melodic MOONBLOOD heritage to epic viking-era-BATHORY-like tunes, to oppresive death/dark metal, to acoustic volkish compositions and even hard-rock-style ballads (sic!). Despite that, the album manages to produce a feeling of a coherent work from the beginning and almost until the end.
"Ode to the Fallen One" opens with typical "battle sounds and marching music" intro, then slowly crawls into very much early AETURNUS-like slow and grim dark metal, completely with death metal grunts. Not very impressive beginning. Still, those who have endured this 10 minutes long piece will be richly rewarded with the following track, "Searched and Found", a brave return to the classic MOONBLOOD times. Black metal vocals here show a sign of improvement as well, although aren't nearly as convincing or great as Gaamalzagoth's. Still, the track wouldn't be out of place on any of MOONBLOOD's multifarious releases (or un-releases... excuse the pun).
Next goes "Asgard Riders", an epic mid-tempo instrumental, followed by the material from LUROR split. It opens with "War in Asgard", a mixture of fast black/dark metal, slow "Hammerheart" worship, and occasional sweet volkish tune. Clear vocals, whilst probably necessary in this style, are only hair's width short of being outright terrible. They improve a lot on "Man of Iron", a cover of BATHORY's acoustic ballad. Afterwards goes "Warrior's Nightmare", another tribute to MOONBLOOD's glorious past -- this time to the band's older, slower times. The split part ends with a short and sweet instrumental "Vikingdance (Under the Flag of Odin's Son)", that quickly progresses from a volkish beginning to heavier "viking metal", and then explodes in vitriolic fast holocaust, one not unlike MOONBLOOD's past split-mates EVIL.
New material resumes with "To Honour Wotan", an epic 14-minutes hymn, where Occulta Mors' clear vocals show us new lows of disability, while music especially reminds of BATHORY's "Blood, Fire, Death" album. Next goes "Nordic Warriors", another fine black metal piece of MOONBLOOD-ish speed and melodism, somewhat ruined by the vocals that sound suspiciously similar to Akhenaten of JUDAS ISCARIOT and don't really fit here. And then goes doubtlessly the best track of this fine if uneven album, "Hail Teutonia", another epic "viking metal" song with wondrously majestic melodic lines, surprisingly good clear vocals, hateful fast parts and true heathen spirit. A great song to close an album... except that there is one more. "You are so wrong" sounds as weird and unnecessary here as it is called, being a pop-sounding rockish ballad one could expect from BLACK SABBATH in their less than glorious days, not from ex-MOONBLOOD pagan metal band. Completely with (pretty sweet) acoustic verses! , "heavy" refrain and a hard-rocking guitar solo. Sheer commerce... A cover, perhaps? Either that, or Occulta Mors wants to be included in the next installment of "Metal Ballads" compilation, if they are still being made...heh. A nice song to dance along with your girl in candlelight... if you are wondering, well, so fucking do I!
Overall, both fans of raw black metal and epic pagan metal will find a lot to enjoy on this album, although both crowds will be annoyed at certain parts. "Searched and Found", "Vikingdance" and "Hail Teutonia" are definite highlights.
© 2002 ghaaroth
Variety is a keyword here. Dedicated MOONBLOOD fans will most likely be disappointed by most (but not all) tracks of the album. Between eleven songs lasting for almost 80 minutes, Occulta Mors explores the whole spectre of black metal-related music, from minimalist, raw yet hauntingly melodic MOONBLOOD heritage to epic viking-era-BATHORY-like tunes, to oppresive death/dark metal, to acoustic volkish compositions and even hard-rock-style ballads (sic!). Despite that, the album manages to produce a feeling of a coherent work from the beginning and almost until the end.
"Ode to the Fallen One" opens with typical "battle sounds and marching music" intro, then slowly crawls into very much early AETURNUS-like slow and grim dark metal, completely with death metal grunts. Not very impressive beginning. Still, those who have endured this 10 minutes long piece will be richly rewarded with the following track, "Searched and Found", a brave return to the classic MOONBLOOD times. Black metal vocals here show a sign of improvement as well, although aren't nearly as convincing or great as Gaamalzagoth's. Still, the track wouldn't be out of place on any of MOONBLOOD's multifarious releases (or un-releases... excuse the pun).
Next goes "Asgard Riders", an epic mid-tempo instrumental, followed by the material from LUROR split. It opens with "War in Asgard", a mixture of fast black/dark metal, slow "Hammerheart" worship, and occasional sweet volkish tune. Clear vocals, whilst probably necessary in this style, are only hair's width short of being outright terrible. They improve a lot on "Man of Iron", a cover of BATHORY's acoustic ballad. Afterwards goes "Warrior's Nightmare", another tribute to MOONBLOOD's glorious past -- this time to the band's older, slower times. The split part ends with a short and sweet instrumental "Vikingdance (Under the Flag of Odin's Son)", that quickly progresses from a volkish beginning to heavier "viking metal", and then explodes in vitriolic fast holocaust, one not unlike MOONBLOOD's past split-mates EVIL.
New material resumes with "To Honour Wotan", an epic 14-minutes hymn, where Occulta Mors' clear vocals show us new lows of disability, while music especially reminds of BATHORY's "Blood, Fire, Death" album. Next goes "Nordic Warriors", another fine black metal piece of MOONBLOOD-ish speed and melodism, somewhat ruined by the vocals that sound suspiciously similar to Akhenaten of JUDAS ISCARIOT and don't really fit here. And then goes doubtlessly the best track of this fine if uneven album, "Hail Teutonia", another epic "viking metal" song with wondrously majestic melodic lines, surprisingly good clear vocals, hateful fast parts and true heathen spirit. A great song to close an album... except that there is one more. "You are so wrong" sounds as weird and unnecessary here as it is called, being a pop-sounding rockish ballad one could expect from BLACK SABBATH in their less than glorious days, not from ex-MOONBLOOD pagan metal band. Completely with (pretty sweet) acoustic verses! , "heavy" refrain and a hard-rocking guitar solo. Sheer commerce... A cover, perhaps? Either that, or Occulta Mors wants to be included in the next installment of "Metal Ballads" compilation, if they are still being made...heh. A nice song to dance along with your girl in candlelight... if you are wondering, well, so fucking do I!
Overall, both fans of raw black metal and epic pagan metal will find a lot to enjoy on this album, although both crowds will be annoyed at certain parts. "Searched and Found", "Vikingdance" and "Hail Teutonia" are definite highlights.
© 2002 ghaaroth