Tarnkappe‘s Winterwaker, one of The Best Underground Metal Albums of 2016, was released today on CD and LP from Hammerheart Records. Winterwaker was digitally released late last year and the physical release delayed due to pressing plant backlog.
Today is a frost day, the temperature is not rising to 0 Celsius, so the only fitting soundtrack is Tarnkappe’s “Winterwaker” !!! Ice-cold, grim and frostfrozen, just like the weather today. Sure, believe the hype and follow the hipsters who buy the same records, all of them, the M***’s and B*******’s of this world…THIS is killer Black Metal…enough said…
LPs and CDs are in stock now at Hammerheart Records.
Tags: Black Metal, compact disc, Dutch black metal, hammerheart records, tarnkappe, the netherlands, vinyl, winterwaker
This album is weak but what are the censored words in that press release?
Listening to it again while on this page… the first song sounds like Ulver/Deafheaven with the sub-emo melodies given an Ildjarn production and later attempting to rectify this “problem” by feigning “trueness”. The rest of the album sounds like the “we’re trying” parts from Plaguewielder mixed with the more mainstream Century Media black rock/metal like Watain and such (the sentimental moments). There was a Gorgoroth comparison in another article, but this only sounds as disingenuous as later Gorgoroth. Just cliches that cannot compete with a more realized vision like Niden Div 187 (which this band is wrongfully compared to, themselves utilizing “established genre tropes”).
Engram was lackluster even as a diamond in the rough but I never imagined 8 years later things would be so damn bad. Was liking this band part of an ad revenue deal or something with Hammerheart records?
So far failed to fascinate me although this might possibly change. I really like some of the guitar playing (OTOH, I really don’t like some other parts, eg, the one at the end of the 2nd track). My main criticism would be the drumming which is too schematic. Also, the general mood simply doesn’t resonate with me. A central concept of the black metal like music I do like is that there’s always an impedance mismatch between the individual and the world.
OTOH, this text compares the album to no less than seven different bands (Ulver, Deafheaven, Ildjarn, Plaguewielder, Watain, Gorgoroth and Niden Div 187). I don’t know much about most of them but from what I do know, they are pretty different. That’s nothing but a contorted way of stating that “this is really unlike anything I’ve ever heard before”.
THIS ISN’T FUCKING GOOD YOU ASSHOLES