ALBUM REVIEW: Weltenzerstörer – Ernte
Although the band have been active for little over four years at this point, Switzerland’s ERNTE have very quickly established themselves as a promising act with their prolific creative output, releasing three albums and an EP within this short space of time, with the quality of their cold and bleak take on traditional black metal never dipping or showing signs that they are running out of ideas. Their latest album, Weltenzerstörer, is yet another great slab of tight and grandiose extremity from the duo, adding to their small but growing legacy with a record that is epic and caustic in equal measure.
The Witch (Was Born In Flames), with its biting leads and searing vocals, is an epic start to the album, slowly building from its measured, mid-paced opening moments through to an intense offering that’s driven by sharp melodicism and rabid drumming. It’s clearly indebted to second wave black metal, but doesn’t fall into the trap of being generic, instead creating a powerful and hypnotic sound that instantly draws the listener in. Ruler Of Chaos, Bringer Of Storm, a similarly ponderous affair with authoritative drums, meaty, rhythmic guitar work and acidic, shrieking vocals, develops this style further but adds some darker twists, including subtle discordance and chaotic, speed-driven bursts, to turn this into a more visceral piece of music, without departing from the core formula significantly.
Silent And Bleak introduces cleaner tones and retains the menacing undercurrent of the previous track, establishing a dramatic sound in the process. Informed to some degree by hints of DSBM, this is another track that utilises a repetitive approach to the guitars and drums, making this incredibly immersive, with only the hellish rasp of the vocals carving through the mix and, along with some belligerent moments, adding a harsher quality, before ending on a rather abrupt note. Trip To A Solitary Moon possesses a lighter, leaner take on the last track’s sound, veering between beguiling mid-tempos and frenetic, focused, faster moments, allowing a more atmospheric element to come to the fore as the clean guitars play a greater role in the overall sound. It’s a song of extremes, literally shifting from some of the softest sections of the album through to some of its most rabid, and it proves to be quite memorable as a result.
Vessels Of Sacrifice begins as a continuation of the sound that dominated the last song, but incorporates sombre violin lines which lend a spartan gothic edge to everything, perfectly complementing the bleak dirge of the musicianship and accentuating the melancholic feel. The sinister snarl of the vocals helps push the music back towards the denser, fiercer aspects of a track like Ruler Of Chaos, with the music eventually matching this aggression.
The Fire Lake: Death Of Souls manages to strike a delicate balance between the grandiose touches of earlier tracks and the thicker, classic black metal that is the backbone of this album, with some particularly animated guitar flourishes, drum performances and spoken word passages being highlights of the monolithic music on display. Profound Eyes, with its galloping drums and soaring guitars, is another song that has lots of solid, bombastic moments, with the cavernous rhythm section cementing a huge sound upon which the shrill vocal lines and angular leads are able to impose themselves, injecting just enough variety to help bring this album to its conclusion on a note every bit as epic as the one it began on.
Considering that this is the band’s third full-length in as many years, this is a strong album made up of some incredibly epic yet dark black metal that manages to pay homage to the genre’s core style without parodying it. This record could have done with some slightly more adventurous riffs, or at the very least a more generous dose of violins and grandiosity than it ultimately delivered, but other than that it’s hard to find fault with what ERNTE have crafted with Weltenzerstörer. This album may not possess the same sort of dramatic, expansive sound that its predecessor, 2023’s Albsegen, had, but the chunkier tone and more stripped back production allows the music to stand or fall on its own merits in a way that an atmosphere-centric offering wouldn’t have been able to. If the band keeps producing music at the same feverish pace that they’ve been putting out new records, it won’t be long until they’re back, and with a slightly more inventive twist on what is present here, whatever they produce next could be their magnum opus.
Rating: 8/10
Weltenzerstörer is out now via Vendetta Records.
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