Distanz

The last records of Narreth thematized the nature, this time the lyrics are hardly influenced by war and how it affects nature, as you can see in songs like Die verlorene Rotte. The sound is much darker than before, as war is naturally darker than nature.

To create a harsher and darker atmosphere Nerrath makes extensive use of double bass and nearly omitted all epicness. The riffs are still compelling and catchy but they are also affected by the latest changes, which means, that they are gloomier. You still notice the unique style of Horn as soon as any song starts, as he really found his own style of playing.

The first song Überall und über allem is catchy at first and nearly could have been an earworm, but it does not last that long. The guitars are unmistakably distorted and somewhat disturbing as they really sound airy. This characteristic lasts for the whole record, but the slightly hollow sound creates a good and cold atmosphere. The main theme does not change dramatically from track to track, which causes you to get off the track.

The only real exceptions from this “monotony” are the last two tracks, which are unexpectedly calm and they do not suit the general mid-tempo jog. What remains the same for all tracks are the characteristic vocals, which are quite harsh in general with no real exceptions.

Conclusion:

Distanz is a good record, which should suit every former fan of Horn, although there are minor changes of style. When you hear the songs separately they are well structured and exciting, but due to the lack of variety in the main themes they lose a bit of their attractivity and character when you hear the record as a whole.

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nilgoun - http://threnodies.com

Very little has changed for Horn over the years. Nerrath seems to be capable of only producing truly epic records in a similar vein. His other project that I’ve heard, Licht Erlischt…, are almost identical, too! Despite playing in a different genre and seemingly to a different tune, Nerrath seems incapable of producing albums that don’t sound akin to the previous. This 2010 release, entitled ‘Distanz’, is the forth full-length from this one man project spearheaded by the underrated German talent of Nerrath. Those who know Horn should probably know what to expect with a new album. Distortion laden material with the occasional cleanly chanted vocals and lots of excellent melodies. The problem with the evolution of Horn is that, whilst the albums are still good as you go along and assess his full-length career, the melodies have become less important and less impacting. This album, for example, whilst consisting of generally well written songs, doesn’t contain the same amount of crucial melodies as his first two and most pivotal albums in his discography.

‘Distanz’ is disappointing in this way and this way alone. The melodies don’t excite me as much and though the energy of the songs is still there, as shown in the mesmerising and fast paced ‘Überall und befallen’, the riffs aren’t as strong as they were on classic songs like ‘Alpenland’, which had a really infectious backbone to them. The approach is still very much the same, but the album feels a lot darker and intent on creating a more intense experience, rather than relying solely on groundbreaking melodic riffs to win over the adoring audience. The songs comprise of elements that make up the other albums, too. The cleaner guitar riffs are still present, though much more infrequent than they have been in the past. In fact, on songs like ‘Überall und befallen’, they only tend to feature briefly, which I thought was somewhat disappointing. The old style, if you can call it that, layered the cleaner stylistic approach of Horn underneath the dissonant distortion based one and was fantastic to hear.

This album doesn’t rely so heavily on cleaner instrumentation anymore and the cleaner chanted vocals have almost completely disappeared from the album entirely, another really disappointing factor. The strength of the songs is in creating genuinely interesting riffs, as on upbeat songs like ‘Die verlorene Rotte’, which features unusual characteristics seen only sparsely on previous Horn albums. These characteristics include a more jovial style of riffing and an upbeat percussion backbone, with the vocals binding the elements together with their nature based lyrics. The atmosphere still has an under-produced feel to it, but the material is actually very well written and produced, Nerrath just likes to spellbind his instrumentation with a bouncy, natural quality. The music sounds like it was recorded in the middle of dense forestry in the middle of spring when life is bustling and new beings are coming into the world. The atmosphere on the previously aforementioned song, for example, with the cleaner chants, is vibrant and colourful.

There isn’t anything new about the style, or the sound, with the hollow drums being as they always were and the epic guitars reaching into and beyond the sky to pull the universe down and into the soundscapes of the songs, inviting astral images into the listeners mind alongside picturesque views of beautiful landscapes, as seen on the artwork of the previous albums. I could foresee that this album would sound somewhat different, darker for example, as the artwork has changed. No longer are Horn sporting colourful nature based images, but grey and black pictures of the calm before the storm, perhaps being used as a metaphor for the instrumentation found on this album. Despite the use of lots of heavy distortion and epic riffs, which tend to take away the focus of everything else, the bass is still audible, though it tends to be used as a back-up and an enhancer of the guitars. The double bass of the drums does the same, but in a different ways, offering slightly more variation than the bass. The instrumentation is often very varied and rarely too repetitious for my own liking.

A lot of the atmospheres are quite cutting. They dig deep into the skin and soak it in intoxicating melodies, as shown on ‘Boarders, Lands and Shores’, a song with a truly entrancing feel to it. Each of the songs almost feels like a replica of previous one’s, though I don’t necessary see this as a bad thing because Horn have always given off a similar vibe throughout each of the album and it never bothered me then and certainly doesn’t bother me now. The darker and more intense feel to the atmosphere that I spoke of earlier doesn’t make this album any less accessible as songs like the aforementioned still use those clean chants and cleaner guitars, just more sparingly than before. The atmosphere is perhaps more mature and not as reliant on choruses and melodies. The songs are still well written and crafted, so there aren’t too many issues to be found on this nature inspired delight, but I still wish Nerrath would supply more in the way of memorable riffs, as shown on songs like the catchy-as-hell ‘Alpenland’. A grower, but not necessarily a keeper.