Germany is one of the most featured countries here on Unholy Black Metal, and this certainly depends on the prolificacy and richness of the German scene, which is one of the most important in the world. Well, another excellent band come out from the German obscurity is Arath, a band I became acquainted with thanks to singer Murgrind who sent me some material. The band was formed for the first time back in 1997 but it split up, and was then reformed in 2011. The Germans released their first full-length Arath in 2013 and the second, and so far the latest, album Ungedul came out in 2014.
The band delivers a black metal genre with gray and funereal atmospheres created through not very fast but obsessive tempos and a very thick sound. Their sound reminds of Swedish Grá for their gloomy, funereal and obsessive atmosphere, especially “Floss Att Dakhternath” and “Steingrindr”; this does not mean however that they are influenced by the Swedish band. At any rate, although the structure of the songs is pretty simple, Arath manage to be quite engaging. On the other hand there are too many idle times: an intro, “Enthran Finstwilth”, of more than two minutes and especially a long, interminable (and a little boring) outro, “Glarkommer”; these long intros and outros seem superfluous.
The production is raw but effective, and renders very well the sense of primordial obscurity of the album. The lyrics are written in a fictional language created by drummer Grimrik; this language is a mixture of German, a local German dialect, Nordic languages, Latin and the fictional language created by Tolkien.
Ungedul is a very well-crafted gloomy, eerie album, and; it will appeal to lovers of raw black metal. Very good. Do not miss the amazing lyric video below.
Notes:
Release date: September 6 2014 on Deivlforst Records.
Tracklist:
1. Enthran Finstwilth
2. Floss Att Dakhternath
3. Siilfangrimr
4. Dan Svartt Porthen
5. Steingrindr
6. Khamr Giftagrunn Tegstr
7. Glarkommer
Personnel:
Grimrik: Drums, Lyrics (translations), Songwriting
Solvalt: Guitars, Bass, Lyrics, Songwriting
Murgrind: Vocals, Lyrics, Songwriting
Text by Herjann
herjann@unholyblackmetal.com
The band delivers a black metal genre with gray and funereal atmospheres created through not very fast but obsessive tempos and a very thick sound. Their sound reminds of Swedish Grá for their gloomy, funereal and obsessive atmosphere, especially “Floss Att Dakhternath” and “Steingrindr”; this does not mean however that they are influenced by the Swedish band. At any rate, although the structure of the songs is pretty simple, Arath manage to be quite engaging. On the other hand there are too many idle times: an intro, “Enthran Finstwilth”, of more than two minutes and especially a long, interminable (and a little boring) outro, “Glarkommer”; these long intros and outros seem superfluous.
The production is raw but effective, and renders very well the sense of primordial obscurity of the album. The lyrics are written in a fictional language created by drummer Grimrik; this language is a mixture of German, a local German dialect, Nordic languages, Latin and the fictional language created by Tolkien.
Ungedul is a very well-crafted gloomy, eerie album, and; it will appeal to lovers of raw black metal. Very good. Do not miss the amazing lyric video below.
Notes:
Release date: September 6 2014 on Deivlforst Records.
Tracklist:
1. Enthran Finstwilth
2. Floss Att Dakhternath
3. Siilfangrimr
4. Dan Svartt Porthen
5. Steingrindr
6. Khamr Giftagrunn Tegstr
7. Glarkommer
Personnel:
Grimrik: Drums, Lyrics (translations), Songwriting
Solvalt: Guitars, Bass, Lyrics, Songwriting
Murgrind: Vocals, Lyrics, Songwriting
Text by Herjann
herjann@unholyblackmetal.com