Weltengänger

Oh my, how dear to my heart this little thing is. The keyboards are cheap and simplistic as hell, the drums - although blessed with a very warm and natural soundscape that always leaves me very satisfied - are just functional and no artistic revelation and the croaks and down tuned screams have already been done somewhere in Bergen many many times. But what a character, my friends, what an awesome, original and captivating character lies hidden in one of Germany's best black metal albums from the nineties. This shit is high up there with "Hühnengrab im Herbst" by Nagelfar and it will be so forever. For a band that uses the "orchestra smash" button on their keyboard a bit too often, that is quite the accomplishment. And that band logo kicks so much fucking ass by the way. It's a small optical poem in itself. I love it when bands design that stuff with the right amount of theatricality.

Although they use the same washed-out power chord pummelings and freezing tremolo techniques of the time, the constructed melodies themselves are oh so very different than many norwegian downward spirals or swedish death/heavy metal influences. The tunes of Lunar Aurora have a certain easyness about them, a darkened version of an already grim and fantastic, non-existent folk dance that is always flowing on without reaching a stable point of definition or comfort. Combined with the occasional visit of synth streams out of the Emperor-handbook of "LET'S MAKE THIS SHIT MYSTICAL AS FUUUUUUCK!!!", you can't really enjoy thus music without falling into it. It's rain against a window in musical form, it's like a lonely little white cloud in a summer full moon night on the grassy hills of childhood. "Weltengänger" is a deeply romantic experience with enough intellectual challenge to stay away from stale pulp entertainment.

Lunar Aurora play black metal that is accessible but not very cooperative at the same time, which results in many hours that are used to decipher the strange tones and movements on this record. I remember reading an interview with the member Ben König in which he stated that he plays this kind of music because he is who he is, not the other way around. The stubborn and delicate individuality shines through in every song and it is truly remarkable to me how one can compose and perform absolutely classical black metal with all the established stylistic choices but without bowing to any genre standards in regards to feeling and authenticity. That's the opposite of the often celebrated black metal tough guy stupidity. It's true introverted strength and the author of many great nights. I often find myself lost in one of the songs on "Weltengänger" and think to myself:"God damn, why has nobody else played black metal riffs like this before?" The formula seems so simple and still unreachable. This makes for a highly original album with a mystical buttload of longevity. There is nothing like walking the woods at night with this album in your ear. Try it out, you won't be disappointed! Except when you suck as a person anyway.

I haven't spent nearly as much time on Lunar Aurora's 90's career than their later material, but one album I have given repeated listens to is their debut full-length Weltengänger. Although their early material isn't quite as popular and more difficult to get your hands on, Weltengänger is an album worthy of a listen.

At the time, they were a four piece with Aran and Whyrhd being the only two of the group to remain with the band afterward although drummer Nathaniel would stick around for one more album. Weltengänger is a six track album which is perfect for the type of music they play here. They've always been known for their mystical sounding brand of atmospheric black metal and their debut album is no exception, but here it sounds much more gossamer and light sounding. The music maintains an occult tinge to it, but at the same time it also has this "floaty" feeling to it. No depressing sounding moods that you'd find in Elixir of Sorrow or Andacht; and while the lyrics do dabble with dying here, particularly on "Grabgesänge", they seem to be more about the soul being freed to some astral plains or some shit like that.

The music is almost constantly at a fast tempo with the only slow section occurring on "Into the Secrets of the Moon". The passages are more than varied enough to keep the music interesting through the album's 47 minute length though. The riffs and the keyboards are both very light sounding and reminiscent of early Emperor, and it's the keyboards that take actually up the majority of the spotlight on this album. While the riffs sound fine on their own, the best parts of the songs are when the keyboards lay down their melody. "Grabgesänge" has two excellent examples of this, the first on their chorus (if you could call it that) and then again after their second "chorus", the latter of which is also used as the song's outro to great effect. "Conqueror of the Ember Moon"'s outro is equally as beautiful sounding in the same respect while also serving as an excellent finisher to the album with the extended instrumental section after the vocals finish before the guitars, bass, and drum stop playing and there's only the keyboards playing.

Make no mistake though, the guitars are not useless. The keyboards aren't on at all times throughout the album, and the riffs are easy enough to follow along to be rather catchy and have their own occasional beautiful melodies as well such as on the aforementioned break on "Into the Secrets of the Moon" as well as just about the entirety of "Conqueror of the Ember Moon". The drums meanwhile sound really organic and drummer Nathaniel has a lot of energy on this release. Whyrhd's mid-ranged shrieking vocals then are the icing on the German chocolate cake and sound like he's reciting some shamanic ritual chant for channeling spirits.

Weltengänger is a blast. It's easily my favorite Lunar Aurora by a giant margin. Besides that, I feel that Weltengänger is an important landmark for atmospheric black metal's expansion out of Scandinavia alongside Negură Bunget, Blut aus Nord, and Nagelfar. And to date, Weltengänger remains one of the best atmospheric black metal albums overall. Listen to this album. Listen to it during daylight, listen to it while standing in the moonlight. Just listen to it.

From the opening moments of German BM trio Lunar Auror's debut, Weltenganger, you know you're in for something special. Lunar Aurora has been around for quite some time, and they have been a consistent force in symphonic BM for the duration of their career. Only recently have they garnered some small measure of respect in the underground extreme music community. Still underrated, no longer criminally so.

The guitar and drum onslaught on this album is absolutely thunderous, and the keyboard melodies are addictive. The compositions, in stark contrast to a great deal of American and European BM released these days, are fully-realized, not underdeveloped. This band exacts the full potential of every song. Most impressive of all the album's attributes, every song is distinctive, each containing its own discernable keyboard and guitar melody.

The lyrics also deserve special mention here. They are cryptic, dense, and tastefully bordering on the melodramatic, giving the album tremendous fortitude. Of course, most of the lyrics are written in the band's native tongue, so I can only assume that these same qualities apply to the non-English songs.

This is a thoughtful and well-orchestrated album. Thoroughly enjoyable, never tiring, with plenty of contrast. It is a near perfect balance of brutality and sensitive, artful songwriting. Really, the symphonic stuff doesn't get much better than this.