By Bona Pjarren
Skratte was founded as a solo project by Hevnbrann in 2012 in order to materialize his musical vision of combining the coldness and brutality of Norwegian black metal with the characteristic versatility and harmonious playing of the French.
To quote from the label blurb: While ‘Akt I’ still had more of a classic, melodic black metal orientation with folk elements, Hevnbrann allows ‘Akt II’ to rise up against the boundaries of conventional folk black metal, occasionally crossing them and merging furious black metal with clean male vocals, gothic rock reminiscences, monumental acoustic arrangements and melancholic violins into a totally unique soundscape that reaches out to listeners and then draws them in relentlessly. Thematically, ‘Akt II’ gives a voice to the nature spirits and accompanies them on an emotional journey that takes them ever onwards, struggling and striving against the turmoil of today’s world.
So, what’s the verdict?
‘Offenbarung’ is the first track on the album and acts as an introduction, short and atmospheric. ‘Kältetod’ is straight into the action with chugging guitar. It has quite a gothic feel to it with nice baritone vocals and intricate guitar work. It skilfully mixes extreme vocals and blast beats of black metal with more laid back gothic elements.
‘Wolfsklagen’ enters with some pleasant acoustic picked guitar with a floated lead over the top. The main body has some unusual sound treatments as it mixes, again, gothic and atmospheric black metal elements. The violins add another dimension to the chilled out sections. There is also a nod to folk rock in this piece. All the elements are cleverly woven together.
‘Als der letzte Atem erstarb’ is another fairly short instrumental with lilting strings and pleasant picked guitar that build in intensity. ‘Vidéki Ballada’ has an almost spaghetti western feel to its black metal vocals. It has a certain quirky charm as it builds. Different ideas are introduced and blended seamlessly into this eccentric track. There are plenty of folk stylings that add to the overall ambience.
‘Spuk im Unterholz’ is a short linking track of acoustic guitar and mixed extreme and spoken word vocal. ‘Der Waldgeister Tanz’ is the longest song on the album and I always wonder if these long tracks are justified. It certainly makes a good start with various changes in tempo and time signatures and some decent hooks. Some ideas are melded together while others are like separate songs included in the larger whole. It is certainly an intriguing soundscape.
‘Todgeweiht’ has a folk metal feel to its construction while still staying true to its black metal roots. There are passages that are almost medieval in construction. It has some very pleasant chilled out sections as well.
‘Akt II…’ is an unusual album, cleverly combining a range of musical styles and its use of songs within songs. It has a plethora of ideas skilfully crafted into each song and there are plenty of decent hooks to hold the listeners attention. ‘Akt II…’ is a decent album and well worth giving a listen.
- ‘Akt II: Des Wolfes Klagen‘ is out now.
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