NACHTGESCHREI - review added 18th March 2009
Album Review: Am Rande der Welt (2009)
For fans of: medieval metal... and Star Wars
Nachtgeschrei hail from Frankfurt, Germany. A direct translation of their name appears to be 'Night Shouting', although how reliable your average online language converter is would be anyone's guess! Am Rande der Welt is translated as 'At The Edge Of The World', which seems like a pretty strong contender for the truth.
The band play a folk orientated, medieval metal with plenty of accordion and booming bass. There's a flute, a feast of guitars and even something approaching bagpipes in the mix. Nachtgeschrei has seven members and they all seem sweat-inducingly active on most tracks. There's an abundance of layers to the music with numerous instruments twittering at any given moment.
The start of lead singer, Hotti's, vocalizing in 'Mispili' sounds uncannily like the Ewok chanting from 'Return Of The Jedi'. Fortunately, the furry comedy comparisons soon disappear and the song takes on a more traditional, less Lucas-esque feel. In general, however, his vocals suit the music to a tee. He isn't a powerful singer but he fills the role of heavy metal folk front man well.
'Windfahrt', although perhaps not boasting the best title for the English audience, is a track It's easy to imagine some rock minstrels playing boisterously in your favourite castle. 'Nur ein kleines Stuck vom Himmel' is an intriguing proposition. The main body of the song is standard fair, but the bridge to the chorus decelerates into a throbbing, bass and drum driven chant. It works well and adds an extra dimension to the record.
Considering the album isn't sung in my first, or indeed any of my languages, it remains a pleasant listening experience. As with Abinaya a few weeks back, respect is due to Nachtgeschrei for singing in their native tongue rather than doing the obvious and using English.
Ultimately, the album is a little on the 'nice' side. For my tastes it could do with more aggression and a little less accordion playing. However, if you like the whole Medieval metal scene, you could do a lot worse than check this out.
Check out... The intro. It has a truly epic feel which isn't properly replicated in the rest of the album.
Track List:
1. Fiur
2. Muspili
3. Herz aus Stein
4. Fernweh
5. Niob
6. Lauf!
7. Windfahrt
8. Nur ein kleines Stuck vom Himmel
9. Wahrheit
10. Der Totmacher
11. Glut in euren Augen
Label: Massacre Records
Artist's websites: Nachtgeschrei , MySpace
