By Bona Pjarren
‘Lélekharang’, or ‘Soul Bell’ in English, is the third album from Hungarian atmospheric black metal band WitcheR. Formed in 2010 WitcheR are Karola Gere (no relation to Richard?) on keyboards and Roland Neubauer on guitars, drum programming and vocals. The album has just been released on Filosofem Records.
The work kicks off with ‘The Intro’, a delicately played atmospheric piece with crashing chorded piano and string washes that builds gently. ‘Hamvak’ is next up and has tuneful trem picked guitars that really carry the piece forwards to a pleasant keyboard break before the two elements join to form the main part of the song. Grunted vocals with a harmonized backing add something a bit different. All things considered it is a decent start to the album.
‘Lélekharang’, the title track is next and has a nice piano introduction before launching into some epic progressive rock stylings that really soars in a majestic way. Karola and Roland have given the song lots of space to develop before launching into the vocals. It is both dark and uplifting at the same time. I like the way that the guitars acts as a drone against the main melodies of the keyboard.
‘Csendesen’ follows and is more direct in its approach, launching straight into the main theme. ‘Csendesen’ has a real epic feel to its composition. Excellent use of keyboards really carries the piece forward. The drums could have done with a bit more definition on the double kicks in the mix as they were getting a little lost at times in the quite complex soundscapes. This is a minor quibble though. Overall another great track though.
‘Hazateres’ is the fifth track on the album and is introduced with a very strong guitar riff. There is again some rather nice keyboard work in here. The vocals are strong and focus exclusively in the grunt realm. ‘Hazateres’ roars forward but is nicely broken up with some new ideas. Keyboard lulls also add some great dynamics to the song as a whole.
The last track is ‘Moonlight Sonata’, which is, of course, a cover. Beautifully played but I do wonder if it adds to the album as a whole. I think, personally I would listen to the first five tracks of the work together and listen to this track separately.
In conclusion, ‘Lélekharang’ is a really good album with plenty for the listener to get to grips with. It strikes just the right balance between heavy broodiness and soaring melodies. I really enjoyed it and would gladly recommend it to those of ambient black metal or even prog metal tastes.
- ‘Lélekharang’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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