Her von welken Nächten

I stumbled upon Dornenreich a few years ago, after I saw an advertisement regarding their acoustic show at a Romanian metal festival, which turned out to be very successful; after listening to their 1999 release "Bitter ist's dem Tod zu dienen", I began to grow quite a strong affinity for their style: experimental, indeed, black metal and melodic & symphonic at the same time, believe me or not. Their vocalist, lyricist and guitarist, Eviga, must be a musical genius; his high-pitched screams, his lower-diving growls and desperate mid-screams are one of the band's greatest advantages; yes, he will seem to you a little rabid at first, but you'll get used to his paranoid voice in no time. Been there, done that.

"Her von welken Nächten", in German, something like "Her Withering Nights" as this damned Google translate says, can be considered a continuation of "Bitter ist's dem Tod zu dienen", as it has the same songwriting technique and lyrical (maybe overall) theme. The album is basically, at foundation, an album about ghosts, or just a certain ghost as the title contains the word "her".

The album opens up with "Eigenwach", German for "My own wax" or simply "Own Wax" (I suppose I shall be corrected and ammended for my translation mistakes by the Germans). The pounding riffs begin, and the crushing, tormented vocals shatter the listener's years; with "Eigenwach" you are going to be accustomed to the whole album, because it is like a herald of what the band sounds like; Undoubtedly, you will observe that Dornenreich have a very powerful theatricality, which streams from the way in which the songs are written, namely: the lyrics are written, most likely, before the music is created, thus the music is created to fit the theme of the lyrics precisely; this songwriting process has been employed also on "Bitter ist's dem Tod zu dienen".

The lyrics of the album can be seen as theatrical plays, as Eviga sings on different voices and there are brackets in the lyrics that specify this multi-ego environment. This fact can be easily and especially be seen in "Wer hat Angst vor Einsamkeit? " (Eng.: "Who's afraid of Loneliness?");

From a strictly musical point of view, "Her von welken Nächten" is just monumental: there are some magnificent keyboard passages, a very distinct and original voice, drums that stand out through their complexity, as the guitars do, too. The experimental nature of their music is unquestionably there, and it is there for all to see; their symphonic black metal approach is there too, reminding at moments of the ol' good (now decrepit and dismal) Cradle of Filth mojo, but more of the symphonies of the Italian symphonic/ gothic black metal band Graveworm (even more decrepit and dismal than Cradle of Filth now); the keys are not complex at all, being just chords sometimes, but they do perfectly their job, without interfering with the other instruments: they are used often when Eviga recites or whispers something, to maintain the atmosphere which he needs to be heard or understood.

The drums are quite complex for a symphonic black metal band, and thank God, they do not use that double-bass pedal and blast-beats all the time; They are made to fit perfectly the other instruments: where needed, there are scorching double-bass gallops and blast-beats; again: when the song begins to have a certain moody, gloomy atmosphere they take the road of less furious beats, less furious but not simple or pathetic.

"Trauerbrandung", ("Incendiary mourning clothes" ?!), is the winner of "The best song ever written in the history of symphonic black metal"; it is the most chaotic and fierce song of the whole album. From the start to the end, the song basically ripps everything in its path: the double-bass pedal thunders, the guitars cry, but they do not cry as beautiful as Eviga does. This man should work full-time at a theatre, as he can sound however the fuck he likes and wants to sound; it seems to me than his screaming of "Traueeerbranduung!" is just the most fucking metal thing I have ever heard in my metalhead carreer. He delivers an incredibly good performance in the song "Wer hat Angst vor Eisamkeit?", and especially at the end of the song where his pitch almost reaches the infamous banshee-scream, used by Dani in his golden times, and he sounds like the very first screams of a child. In flames.

From "Eigenwach" to "Mein Publikum - Der Augenblick", the album is just brilliant, and a headstone in the history of symphonic/melodic/experimental (call it as you want as long as you do not cut off the symphonic and melodic parts). If theatre, metal music, ghost stories and symphonic music are in the list of the things you like, then this album will quench your thirst for every and each of them, without a doubt. Highlights of the album: every song off the album is a masterpiece in its way, but those who really stand out from the chaos are "Trauerbrandung", "Wer hat Angst vor Eisamkeit?", "Grell und dunkel strömt das Leben " and "Ich bin aus mir".

Honestly, this album is very underrated. I remember a time where Dornenreich was still an enigma to me or even further, when I never heard anything about them. When I was a little younger, 14 years or so, I was very into German extreme bands such as Eisregen. Then some guy on the Internet recommended Dornenreich to me, saying that it takes emotions to a far more intense level of comprehension (and would not be as direct as others, thus inducing you to think). Dornenreich is one of those bands, who have far more concept in their music than most bands, taking their music to a more philosophical level, similar as great bands such as Pink Floyd do. Their early work was more black metal influenced and their newer stuff is closer to Pink Floyd as most people think. "Her von Welken Nächten", which means something like "Fro from Withered Nights" is their bridging album between the black metal and the progressive rock music they make nowadays.

This album is also my personal favorite from them. I remember them playing back in 2007 on a festival, where they took their old line-up and played the whole "Her von Welken Nächten" album, which was marvellous. It stars out with a creepy introductory track where a person repeats the album title in whispers, asking what the nights bring forth. A strange and eerie violin tone kicks in, followed by a glockenspiel. After about a minute of that, the actual music begins, with a choppy down tuned guitar riff in variation with the shrieky type of vocals the singer now adopts. Another great thing here is how harmonics are played on the guitar. They add massively to the atmosphere and are also placed very nicely. The music progresses and becomes very weird, almost trippy, with actual patterns becoming difficult to overlook. It varies from straightforward riffing to blast beat attacks and very aggressive shrieking. The songs themselves often have a sudden break in their execution where beautiful violin melodies, accompanied by groovy drum and percussion beats, take the listener into a very gloomy atmosphere. I can not point out the fact sharp enough in how I hate it when one particular instrument stands out and is the loudest. Luckily the keyboards on this album are absolutely perfect. At first you don't even notice them and just hear the pattern it creates. You will come across a few tracks played in pianissimo that contribute very well to the concept as a whole, as you will not hear the same type of track over and over again or filler tracks put into the album to make it longer.

Eviga's screeching is amazing, once you get used to it, but the same thing could be said about King Diamond. Once it penetrates you aquire the taste for it, it becomes amazing. As the music progresses, it evolves into something difficult to describe. It's as if Dornenreich have managed to authentically induce the emotion of real fear into their music.

..."Die Nacht sie reicht mir meine Hand" ("The night passes me my own hand")...

Another exceptional aspect of the album is the drumming. Technically, Moritz manages to surpass most drummers in this scene. The fills, the pauses, the energy. You can really feel this man has put a lot of effort into his drumming on the album. Normally, as rather a vocalist and an novice musician myself, I don't pay too much attention on the drums, but on this LP, they are really impressive.

As you continue to listen to this album, you continue your own journey into the night, assuming the role of the protagonist of the music. His venture becomes yours. His fears and emotions become yours. You will not be the same after this experience. Stand out tracks include "Wer hat Angst vor Einsamkeit?" and "Trauerbrandung". Highly recommended.

Wow! Dornenreich changed music once again! This time it`s an avant-garde black and not an easy listen as the previous works were more acceptable. As far as i know it`s dedicated to how a person got lost in the forest at night and what came out of it.

This album is the heaviest! It`s packed with heavy riffage. Guitar sounds like a chainsaw cutting through wood so it`s has a bit trashy sound. Besides Eviga uses a lot of vibrato techniques and prolonged riffs. Once in a while music gets too frantic and ragged and you really don`t know what to expect next. For example Song ¹3 features some strange jumping rhythm.

Drumwork is very heavy too, Moritz beats the hell out of his drum kit, but only occasionally. His drumming here is very varied and i would say even technical. Frequent percussion sounds intensify the heaviness.

Besides 5 electric guitar compositions there are 3 acoustic songs, 2 of which sound like experiments. Sometimes they sound too muted then gain sound and mute again. All this is accompanied by cello and whisperings. Cello and keyboards alternate between themselves; cello to create the atmosphere when synths mostly to support guitar.

Eviga`s voice is more piercing not furious this time but more wailing and crying. He has an ability to scare people -for an unprepared listener Song ¹4 will be some kind of a shock.

Well, I only hope that guy got out of the forest finally. To survive this terrible night was a real ordeal!!!

When I first decided to get Dornenreich's CD I was just curious, not having heard much about them. I have some mixed feelings about this. First of all, the music overall is excellent, most of the songs seem well constructed and rather interesting, with a nice blend of instruments, however right away from the start of the first track, "Ich Bin Aus Mir", something grabs my attention, and its not a good thing. The whispery, squealy, and squeaky vocals. Those are not cool, just plain gay and annoying. That is the main problem I have with this. The vocals are just plain horrid. Worst I've heard in a while. I think Dani Filth's vocals would have been less annoying here.

Having said that, I love the guitars, violins, drums, and the other instruments that are present on here. The only other thing that drew me away was three tracks, all pretty lengthy ones, which were just some ambience with annoying whispers. Thats a waste of time, and why the band would include it on the CD is beyond me. Have some ambience/acoustic as an interlude, but not three 5-7 minute songs with annoying whispers. That just takes it way beyond.

To go back on a positive note, some highlights are the fine atmospheric melodies on "Grell Und Dunkel Stramt Das Leben", the really cool riffs at the beginning of "Schwarz Schaut Tiefsten Lichterglanz", and the somewhat heavy but melodic riffs on "Trauerbrandung". These almost beg for a high grade of 90+, but when such a big part of this album is dedicated to whispers and shitty ambience, I just can't. When he actually growls, the vocals aren't too bad, but once again the whispered squeals are too much. Cut them out, as well as some unnecessary acoustics, and you'll have yourself a very well done symphonic black metal album.