Patina

It’s another review of a Teutonic band: Geist. Formed from the remnants of Eismalsott. From what little information I can translate/figure out, Alboin (now in Geist) and Ainvar (of Eismalsott) had some professional differences and they split, with everyone but Ainvar forming Geist. So Patina is actually the culmination of work from both Eismalsott and Geist. With that said, both bands play some excellent folk-influenced black metal. The black metal roots are from old school kvlt black metal and they pull a ton of influence from Teutonic folk music as well. Patina was relased in May 2005 on Solistium Records.

Geist employ a number of elements common to folk-infused black metal these days: keyboards for ambience/depth, flutes, lutes, pipes, strings (violins specifically), and an ethereal wispy intro (although that’s very common to any cold black metal). On the surface, this doesn’t really make a stand out release from a band that, according to Ainvar, stole an entire release. Honestly, without these elements, it’s standard fare Nordic black metal but even with these elements, it’s pretty standard fare folk-inspired black metal. The arrangements for the black metal songs are like that of any regular BM song: monotone blasting drums, distorted chuggy down-tuned guitars, distress vocals. If the whole album was like this, there’d be nothing to distinguish it from another black metal album except that it’s German. Taken alone, the folk parts are pretty amazing with an over-abundance of ambience and ability to suck you in. Keyboards, acoustic guitars, flutes, natural sounds, layered ambient tracks really help build a soundscape that one might hear if they were sitting in a Teutonic court or preparing for battle. Compared to other reviews for this album, I know it sounds like I’m panning it but really, I’m not.

When you combine the black metal and the folk elements together, this is where everything becomes intersting. Track four Winters Schwingenschlag begins somberly with a single acoustic guitar track and slowly segues into a full on slug-paced dirge. The guitar riffs are fast but are not the main focal point, the drums are slow like you’d find in funeral doom. The acoustic intro is layered in through out the entire track until the end where a single strings track is dropped in like a folk bunker bomb. Lyrically, the song is extremely desolate, conveying the feeling of being isolated in a frozen forest in during a harsh winter night. I really get the feeling Geist were trying to portray the feeling of trekking through a blackened forest in the dead of winter with nothing but the clothing on your back. After trying to translate the lyrics, I felt cold, I felt alone, how many bands can really do that on lyrics alone? The aforementioned strings outro perfectly segues into the next track Norn. This song picks up the pace immediately with a folk drum and string intro that’s immediately blasted by cymbals and distorted guitars. The lyrics continue on from Winters Schwingenschlag in that the album’s protagonist has ventured through this black forest into his mountain kingdom and has seen the waste laid before him by his army. While this doesn’t exactly bring him any pleasure, it reminds him of his infinitely cold heart and solitude in his position. The music itself is very mid-fast paced black metal with some time changes thrown in, it feels very empowering despite dark lyrical content.

The title track of the album, Patina, garners even more speed at the close of Norn. This track follows our protagonist as he recounts the world before it was ravaged by war. This track is epic in length and in sound as well. Spooky, horror movie-esque intro catapulted into black metal with a very FInnish black metal notion. Around the 2:20 mark, the track nearly pulls a dead stop into drone territory with a three cord guitar riff and sparse drums but soon picks up the pace again. From there on out, the song continues to speed up and slow down like waves on a death-like calm lake. Each calm interlude of the song has a different ambiance than the one before it. Even though it’s the title track, Patina has my vote for the best track of the whole CD! However, the most eerie and profound intro of any track on the album comes on the closer Spaetsommerabende. Swathed in strings and very crunchy guitars with keyboards in the background, it has a very stabbing sound to it.

Eight tracks and 54 minutes is the length of this monstrous debut. This review took twice as long as any other because I found myself listening to the CD over and over instead of writing about it! Geist’s next album, Kainsmal is due for release in July 2006. If it’s anything like this, Geist will be finding themselves quickly becoming cult classics in German black metal.

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