EP REVIEW: Schlund – Der Rote Milan
Ever since their formation back in 2015, DER ROTE MILAN have proven to be an incredibly lean and razor sharp band within German black metal. With the overwhelming majority of the Trier-based quartet’s line up comprising of members of brilliant underground acts such as STELLAR MASTER ELITE and MASSACRE THE WASTELAND, both of their first two albums, 2016’s Aus Der Asche and 2019’s Moritat showcased enough blistering intensity and stunning musicianship to prove that this band was more than just an offshoot of these acts, cementing their own place within Germany’s underground. Their latest offering Schlund is yet another fantastic inclusion to the band’s growing pantheon of material, and subtly begins to shift into newer territory that’s distinct from DER ROTE MILAN‘s more melodic black metal roots.
This album kicks off with an ominous and domineering start with Passion, a short instrumental piece that treads the line between haunting ambience and forceful industrial harshness, creating a powerful and effective introduction that immediately draws the listener into the music. Erloschen, an incredibly angular and feral piece with grating, melody-tinged guitars, frenetic, pulsing drums and rabid, searing vocals creates an intense and visceral feel straight away. It takes a caustic and jarring approach to a familiar, classic brand of black metal, subtly shifting this established formula to make it sound fresh and energetic, with lighter, atmospheric breaks and just enough polish to make this extremely immersive without sacrificing any of the underlying grit, resulting in a brilliant start to the record proper.
Der Keiler adopts an even more punishing and chaotic style, mixing in a hint of punk, especially when it comes to the drums, with the vocals morphing into an acidic snarl to match this urgency. The guitars, by contrast, feel quite reserved, with the exception of a few belligerent bursts here and there, opting for thick, rhythmic hooks, crafting a measured, but expansive, sound that amplifies a dramatic edge that lies at the core of DER ROTE MILAN‘s music.
Schwarze Winde, a slower, brooding juggernaut that leans prominently into the meaty guitar sound of the preceding track, peppering in doom-laden touches and noxious, discordant flourishes, gradually gathering pace and transforming into a faster, darker and ferocious slab of black metal, covering a lot of ground musically in a very short amount of time. Where the previous three songs in particular have had a generous dose of second wave black metal at their heart, Der Herr Der Schaben lurches abruptly towards an impressively bellicose style that progresses away from this traditional template and into one that is fantastically even more biting and imaginative than even the magnificently strong output that came before it, embracing the majority of elements within the band’s sound, from grandiose atmosphere to unerring speed and aggression, to make this final offering not only the records most memorable effort, but arguably its best and most adventurous as well.
If you want to find out just how much care and attention is given to a band’s music, you need to look to their smaller releases, such as demos and EPs. This is often where musical odds and ends are deposited, leaving only the tightest and most effective offerings for the albums. That’s certainly not the case here as a lot of the tracks that are present here are not only album-worthy, they’re among DER ROTE MILAN‘s very best, making this brief, but incredibly powerful EP magnificently imaginative and impactful. The final song, Der Herr Der Schaben, even takes a step beyond the band’s established formula and shows something much more abrasive and visceral.
Whether this is a mere one off twist on the template or a hint of the way their music will be shifting in the future is yet to be seen, but even if they revert to their core, polished and melodic sound, whatever DER ROTE MILAN follow this record up with, if it’s even on par with the music presented here, will likely be their strongest outing so far.
Rating: 8/10
Schlund is out now via Unholy Conspiracy Deathwork.
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