ALBUM REVIEW: Tôtbringære – Ungfell

Switzerland’s UNGFELL may be one of the most impressive and imaginative bands within the black metal underground. Coupling a classic blackened sound with energetic folk flourishes, UNGFELL have a memorable style that makes them stand out significantly from many of their peers within the scene. Last year, the band released arguably their most impressive output to date, Mythen, Maren, Pestilenz; an album that took their sound to new heights, establishing them as one of the extreme metal underground’s top tier acts. With the re-release of their debut record, Tôtbringære, some two and a half years since its initial release, recent fans of UNGFELL now have the chance to see the nucleus of what was to come.

Viures Brunst is a strong, folky instrumental that sets the tone for the rest of the record before leading into Die bleiche Göttin, kicking off Tôtbringære proper with its dancing melodies, intricate drumming and rabid vocals. Gottes Acker proves a be a lengthier, mid-paced affair, with hypnotic sections counterpointed with livelier, speed driven moments, making for a hook-laden offering. The guitars in particular make great use of several sharp and catchy riffs, which keeps the song interesting from the first note to the last. Trommler Tod begins with a hellish shriek, which leads into an energetic and powerful track with some excellent lead guitar flourishes, which help to keep this otherwise straight forward track interesting throughout. It’s an impressive song with some equally impressive vocals, but doesn’t really stand out on an album full of outstanding music, the the exception of the folk interlude that divides the main part of the song and the beginning of the next one, which provides some great moments that elevate this song significantly.

Der Ûzsieche und sîne Grimmede proves to be a more monolithic affair, with much more prominent folk elements mixing with animalistic vocals, giving a sense of urgency and intensity to the track as a whole. Again, these folky passages help make the track instantly memorable, preventing this rather lengthy offering from stagnating. Wechselbalg makes use of church bells and soundbites in order to craft a noticeably more atmospheric and immersive piece of music, with the frenzied musicianship and bestial, savage vocals all being shrouded in a subtle yet haunting aura that draws the listener in and is hard not to love. Slahtære adds a brief yet brilliant, acoustic guitar orientated track to the proceedings, which helps to break the album up and give a short instrumental build up to the final two songs on the record.

The first of these, Der Opfersprung is another atmosphere heavy effort that plays to UNGFELL‘s many strengths, from the frenzied, melody driven lead guitars to the demented howl of the vocals. It is a very impressive song, but at nearly eight minutes in length, it ends up outstaying its welcome ever so slightly, marring an otherwise grand conclusion to the original release of the record. Das Hexenmal, a new track that UNGFELL have composed since Tôtbringære‘s initial release, closes the album with a renewed vigour, coupling ferocious and focused black metal with hypnotic folk elements. It’s noticeably far punchier and memorable than the previous track, with a sharper production value, which really brings the music to life, and makes this one of the key highlights of the record, ending the album in a great way and leaving the listener eager to hear more.

When trying to draw parallels between the reissue of Tôtbringære and Mythen, Maren, Pestilenz, it’s clear to see that much of the signature sound of UNGFELL was already present at this early point in their career, with imaginative guitar parts, powerful vocals and plenty of hair raising folk accompaniments. Tôtbringære is a great display of diverse and energetic black metal, and its re-release gives listeners a chance to revisit the foundations of a band that are arguably one of the most impressive and promising extreme metal acts on the planet right now, with the new offering, Das Hexenmal, showing that there’s even more fantastic music coming in the future.

Rating: 9/10

Tôtbringære is out now via Eisenwald. 

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