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Verhern - Verhern

The child outside the door - 54%

gasmask_colostomy, December 5th, 2015

So I picked this up for absolutely nothing (actually one English pound), used, from a guy in a market of all places, and I still have very little idea about it beyond what I can hear on the album. As such, my point of view is totally the opposite of Perplexed_Sjel's (see the previous review), since I don't spend a lot of time digging into the obscurity of black metal bands, but rather hoping that they will actually sound interesting instead of coming from a recognizable source. Verhern, from my point of view, don't sound like any of the more typical black names that always get thrown around, coming closer to a more dissonant sound that plays with the same atmospheres in a different way. Everything here is in German, so you might want to have a poke around with a translator if you want to extract all the meaning, though I can pick up a few typical black metal words like "schwarze", (black) "ewigkeit", (eternity) and "dunkelheit" (darkness - remember that word from Burzum's 'Filosofem'?) that could give a hint as to the direction.

The music itself is made in an orthodox fashion, reportedly with nothing but guitars, drums, and bass entering the picture, though I think I can detect some keys colouring the end of the lengthy 'Endgangs Stille'. There are also some oddly gnarled vocals that splatter unevenly across the canvas, the vocalist choosing to intrude seldom and slowly on the more spacious songs. Some of the musical passages contain strongly traditional black metal riffing, with the swelling or rising tone that beckons feelings of despair or hope or pride or nostalgia depending on the series of notes; then we have the more sweeping "outdoor" riffs that sound rainy instead of the usual icy; there are also a few more aggressive parts, such as the opening of 'Ruinen toter Existenz', though these aren't common or particularly notable. Some ambient guitar features pop up too, sprawling gradually across the sound, and making the atmosphere feel hazy and unfocused at times. Near the close of 'Entlang der Trümmer', there's even a slow melody that sounds like something from Mortiis's 'Født til å herske', so we're also in the medieval ballpark on occasion, as suggested by the ruins on the album cover.

The dominating characteristic of 'Verhern' is the wash of guitars that sits at the front of the sound, although they don't actually hit your ears very hard, since the whole sound of the album is quite soft, leaving the icy shards of guitar pain from Norway a million miles away and substituting a dreary, mournful kind of drizzle that keeps falling for the entire half hour experience. The atmosphere is somewhat dismal, but I guess that's what we're looking for here, as if we've entered a decayed house that has been left to rot for a hundred years. The wandering, eerie bass in 'Leblos' really brings that image home, and the ponderousness of some of the sections enforces the sense of unfolding horror. This is backed up by the fact that the drums are very quiet, actually existing subsonically at a few moments and thudding like a ghost child at the door in the faster "blastbeat" sections, which really lack percussive power. Thus, there's a lo-fi aesthetic going on here that suits the dissonance of Verhern, but doesn't help them fully realize all of their musical ambitions. In some cases, you'll find yourself digging the mist that lies in front of the instruments, then you'll suddenly be wishing for it all to clear and immerse you in the chaos, such as with 'Ruinen toter Existenz', which should be adrenalized and brutal though comes off as merely quick and fuzzy.

Depending on your overall experience of black metal and how open your mind is to dodgy production and unclear music, you might end up appreciating the slightly divergent atmospheres that 'Verhern' conjures or pining for your Norwegian or Swedish albums. This isn't anything particularly special, rather a generic exercise in atmosphere and riffcraft, calculated to enthrall, but eventually managing only to be diverting.

National Identity. - 70%

Perplexed_Sjel, May 18th, 2009

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” or “First impressions are everything.” Two expressions that contrast one another and two stereotypes that define the two differential sections of the metal world, when it comes to the fans, at least. Like policing systems, its hard for the average metal fan, particularly the black metal fan, not to work around some sort of offender profiling whereby the listener has these two contrasting methods of judging a band. One will assess the accessibility of the band by seeing how easy it is to find information about them, what sort of band ties that have, if there’s any associated bands that already blow our socks off, and all sorts of methods for working out whether or not a band is worthwhile listening it. Sometimes its easy to work on the basis on conjoining the two stereotypes, and this works in regards to Verhern, an obscure black metal band from the productive German territories. This three piece band seem traditional enough. No keyboardist, just two guitarists, one bassist and one percussionist. Of course, there is a clichéd rasping vocalist, too. The lack of information instantly addresses the listener with a traditional profile. Obscure, mystical and unhelpful in terms of providing any source of information surrounding the band. There isn’t even a band picture of the members. This is obscure.

Thankfully, I’ve dealt with bands like this before and I, myself, am beginning to build up an image of this band and what their sound is like. However, as the first expression tells us not to do - do not judge a book by its cover, despite the fact that often, first impressions are everything. Generally speaking, the latter expression applies more so to the instrumentation than it does the outside influences like the band members, associations with other bands and record labels and pictures, but to a lesser degree. The latter most certainly must be applied here to the instrumentation because, even though I was surprised by the content, it is, generally speaking, very productive. This self-titled piece begins precisely as I would have expected - whirlwind black metal based on the idea of forcing atmosphere on everything, including the listener. Although my attention was not fixated on the band at first, believing this to be just another obscure entity who’s sound is similar to that of 90% of the bands aiming to rejuvenate the old school in the modern day scene, I was wrong. This band has a lot of charm to them, despite the annoying habit of shrouding themselves in mystery. It would be nice, and perhaps useful for the listener to know who exactly operates within this band. Associated bands don’t really give us much of a hint as what to expect with only the drummer being present in other bands, most notably Purest, whom I have heard before.

The best comparison I can muster is with fellow German band Kargvint. In fact, their sounds are almost identical the more I think about it. This leads me to believe profiling works within music, too. For example, each scene, including the German scene, works around similar ideas unless we’re dealing with highly avant-gardé bands who seek to rid the scene of stereotypes. Let it be known, not all clichés are bad things. The fact that Germany has a black metal identity in the underground that is similar between many bands more so than not isn’t a negative reflection. Kargvint’s style of hypnotic haze can be likened to outside factors - think Velvet Cacoon for your most obvious, well known example. The style is primarily based around the guitars - which are usually the most important element of black metal soundscapes anyway, in a general sense. Of course, it can differentiate from the normal, formulaic standard, but it rarely does and when it does, people often cower away from the unknown, calling it inane instead of brave and courageous. Experimentation is acceptable within black metal, yes, but usually within a certain frame. Fans don’t generally want to hear power metal styled vocals in black metal bands, though that might be interesting to hear. They want the bass to affect the ground work more, or subtle elements to flow like a slow stream, somewhere high up in the mountain tops where no one can visibly take notice of it unless they specifically look for it.

The elements that can be called experimental need to be small enough to fit perfectly into the soundscapes without ruining the true essence of the band. Bands like Verhern, who’s self-titled debut does that, and Kargvint work around a national identity that allows them to sound similar, whilst fixating the listener on their own individual methods of subtle play. For example, the bass on this record is more visible than on the majority of Kargvint’s work, or even Velvet Cacoon’s work. Though the fuzzy mist of the distorted guitars still reigns supreme, these subtle elements that add menace to the musical interpretations are quintessential to the overall sound. Whether this is a method used by a band as well known as Velvet Cacoon, or as obscure as Verhern, its just as important. Take songs like ‘Ruinen Toter Existenz’ as the prime example of this. One guitarist generates the whirlwind affect that Kargvint supplement into their music, whilst the other plays a cleaner style alongside the slowly entrancing bass. This combinational style is classic, but you have to ask yourself why that is. Because it is so affective. This band, on the surface of things, sound like any other, but when you take them apart and evaluate their sections piece by piece, you will come to realise, like I did, that they’re accomplished musicians and capable of deceiving because of that fact. Do not judge this book by its over.