ALBUM REVIEW: Akt III: Erlösung – Narzissus
Malte Laslo Katthagen is quickly establishing himself as one of black metal’s most impressive and creative musicians. Over the last few years, with his various projects, most notably ANICENT MASTERY, GRANDEUR and the criminally underrated CARATHIS, he’s been able to take many of the core tropes of black metal and twist them in a way that feels familiar whilst also being incredibly distinct from the vast majority of his contemporaries. Another one of his projects which has swiftly begun to gain traction in the last few years is NARZISSUS – another one-man act that has gradually been shifting away from a more traditional sound to a noticeably more experimental one in their more recent records. On their latest record, and first full-length album, Akt III: Erlösung, the band’s musical scope gets even broader, and the result is arguably their best work to date.
The album begins with Empor Zum Ideal, a dark piece of music that incorporates clean guitars and subtle discordance to slowly build an atmosphere. Even when the music shifts towards a traditional black metal sound, it has interesting, jarring melodic flourishes and an epic, dancing quality, embracing the intensity of black metal whilst bringing in softer elements, from catchy hooks to soaring backing vocals and ethereal guitars which detract from the underlying aggression of the more robust moments and make for a varied and engrossing introduction.
Erlösung – a lengthier offering – carries forward the grandiose parts of it predecessor’s sound, with polished leads and haunting ambience, but proves to be an incredibly visceral affair, with searing vocals, a classic heavy metal-inspired sound and grating razor sharp rhythms resulting in a harder, more frenetic feel. Beguiling female vocals also make an appearance and take on a central role when the crystalline post-rock interlude that leads into the song’s climactic motif kicks in, and add to the warmer, less abrasive edge that gradually creeps to the forefront as the song progresses. The track constantly ebbs and flows from one brilliant hook to the next, meaning that this sprawling effort never gets dull, and acting as a great focal point around which much of the rest of the album is expertly built.
Vanitas/Victoria reverts to the punchier style of the opener and continues with the sort of excellent, intricate guitar work and energetic drums that characterised the previous song, with faster, more furious musicianship on all fronts, along with caustic vocals, leaning into the band’s harsher side without sacrificing any of the fantastic, lighter riffs in the process. It’s a blistering and belligerent take on what was present on the album’s first half, with some imaginative acoustic guitars and clarinet linking this song with the progressive touches of earlier offerings, providing a great, jazzy twist on black metal. Im Glanze Baden is noticeably subdued, with significantly less melodicism in the guitars, shifting to a bleak, rhythmic style that allows the vocals to take centre stage. Of all the tracks on this album this is arguably the least progressive, although there’s some great, jarring passages and cleaner sections in the guitar playing that prevent this from being just a standard black metal song, instead transforming it into a fantastic example of a classic style done exceptionally well.
Der Größte Lohn, another longer form effort similar to the title track, brings the post-rock components and female vocals back, creating a sublime, polished sound straight away. It doesn’t veer back towards black metal immediately, and even when this heavier side returns it is tempered by an atmospheric edge and a decidedly dissonant, rabid approach to the guitars. This is a great track that brings together many of the experimental parts of the band’s sound that have featured prominently, from the clarinets, acoustic guitars and clean vocals through to powerful heavy metal bombast, making this easily the album’s most avant-garde effort, and a fantastic way to close the record.
Perhaps more so than any of the band’s earlier work, Erlösung is arguably NARZISSUS‘ most experimental and avant-garde effort to date. Even so, the more progressive and imaginative elements of this album are subtle and contribute to the overall feel of this record, and aren’t placed there just to throw the listener off. It’s a slight but powerful shift in the band’s sound that hopefully will be explored in future records, because these parts of the record work extremely well when they do make an appearance. Erlösung is yet another great addition to the growing musical pedigree of Malte Katthagen, further cementing his growing reputation as one of the most inventive minds in modern black metal.
Rating: 9/10
Akt III: Erlösung is out now via Fiadh Productions.
Follow NARZISSUS on Bandcamp.