Hexenwind

Dornenreich have been one of my favourite bands for quite some time now. One can place them in the category of bands who have changed their style tremendously over time, since over the course of eleven years they have deviated far away from their black metal roots. I have heard many people complaining about this, but I’ve also heard of people who claim to like their latest outputs (Hexenwind and Durch den Traum), who don’t like metal at all. I wouldn’t count myself to either group of people, as I highly appreciate both of Dornenreich’s eras. It is notable, that all of Dornenreich’s work revolves about human life, emotions and nature, the lyrics deal with these themes from a philosophical and very poetic point of view. They are entirely written in German and are in my opinion some of the best music in general has to offer.

On Hexenwind Dornenreich is no longer the melodic black metal group, who switch from calm acoustic parts to chaotic blasting sections in a great manner. They can’t really be called “band” anymore, as this album is played by Eviga, who handles most of the vocals and all guitars, Valnes, who does great work on the rare clean vocals and the synths and a session drummer.

Now that I’ve talked about Dornenreich’s band history for quite some time, what does the listener await on Hexenwind? I’d call it a hard-to-classify mix of ambient, folk and hints of black metal, but most important is the album’s atmosphere, which is noticeable throughout the whole 43 minutes Hexenwind lasts. The album consists of five songs, an intro, three real songs, which all exceed the ten-minutes-mark and an acoustic interlude.

The album’s intro “Von der Quelle” does a great job in setting up the atmosphere, it’s just sparse synths, some acoustic guitars and Eviga’s voice, vividly whispering, which stays the predominant vocal style for the rest of the album.
Most of Hexenwind is built upon a base of really simple and repetitive drum beats, which perfectly fit in the album’s hypnotic and atmospheric nature and distant sounding, distorted guitar chords, which resemble rather dim waves of noise than actual riffs.

On this foundation lay the three most important parts of Dornenreich’s present-day sound, varied acoustic guitars, which play emotional and haunting melodies and sometimes seem pretty improvised, in a positive sense, the synths, which always enhance the atmosphere and aren’t used to resemble real instruments, instead they are used for ambient purposes. Finally there are the vocals, I think they can be seen as a love-or-hate thing, about 90-95% of the vocals on Hexenwind are whispered/spoken, but honestly, I could not imagine this style of music using any other kind of vocals, as they fit in perfectly with the general atmosphere and the message the lyrics convey. There are also well done clean sung vocals by Valnes, which have quite a romantic and gothic feel to them. Sometimes the vocal styles are used alternately to great effect, like in the album’s last track “Zu Träumen wecke sich, wer kann”.

As a whole, Hexenwind is an amazing piece of atmospheric music, it uses simplicity and repetition in combination with haunting vocals and some of the best acoustic guitar work I’ve ever heard to create an album, which is, although it’s apparently simply structured not easily accessible. But give it a few listens and maybe you’ll see it as I do, as a wonderful piece of musical art regardless of genre.

I’d also like to add that the digi-pack of Hexenwind features an amazing cover-art and booklet, on the album cover one can see a beautiful, ambiguous picture of trees and clouds. The booklet contains all the lyrics, which I really recommend paying attention to if you understand German, and some pictures of forests at night time, which is exactly the feeling Hexenwind gives me, walking through a mystical forest.

There are bands that never change their style. AC/DC, to give a popular example, have been playing more or less the same song for over 20 years. Then there are bands that always develop a little with every album. And finally, there are bands that do about the same thing three or four times before undergoing a grave change on their next release, usually splitting their fan base into "alienated" and "enthralled".

While Dornenreich had always been a band of the second type, they can just as well be counted among the type-3 bands since they released their fourth opus and second concept album "Hexenwind". Although their style had gradually developed over the first three albums, with acoustic elements and calm parts becoming more and more prominent, most of it was within the boundaries of melodic black metal; only a few songs were very ambient-like. However, ever since Dornenreich were recognised by the metal community (not outside their native Austria and Germany, which hasn't changed much so far), they have been emphasising that they do not consider themselves a black metal band, but a way for Evíga, who writes all lyrics, to express his thoughts and feelings in whatever form he feels appropriate, i.e. the music has to fit the lyrical content and doesn't necessarily need to be black metal. Which is why "Hexenwind" sounds the way it does, and which is why I will have to elaborate on the lyrics a bit.

Of course it's only my interpretation, but "Hexenwind" (literally: the witch's wind) is, in short, the invisible traces of magic you can find everywhere in nature if you only want to see, with the witch being the personification of magic. To bring into your room(s) the ethereal, ubiquitous breeze of this magical wind, atmosphere is everything now. Listen to "Hexenwind" at night or on a rainy day, in one session; everything else won't work. Dornenreich carry their development away from black metal towards ambient sounds further than ever before, and to the extreme. The album isn't only far from being black metal, it isn't metal at all.

Two of the five tracks that comprise "Hexenwind" are rather short and mainly instrumental while the remaining three contain more vocals and have a duration of well over 10 minutes each. In general, the music is pretty simplistic. There are grinding, but light guitar riffs and simple mid-tempo drum patterns as well as an occasional acoustic guitar, all covered by a layer of mist and wind, and accompanied by Evíga's voice, whispers and speaking almost exclusively, as well as Valñes' clear vocals. Talking about individual tracks or sections would be useless here; this album is one large piece of music. It sounds stormy, foggy and blurry, just like the shadow of the witch in the forests. Take a look at the cover artwork and you get the picture – unfortunately, it's the whole picture, as there are hardly any changes between the songs or, rather, in the music at all. The lyrics (they are still great, though very short) and guitar riffs are repeated over and over again with far too little variation, and the drums seem to have absolutely no meaning for the music; they are just there, beating straight ahead. All in all, "Hexenwind" is very repetitive, and though it is true that repetitiveness can sometimes be the simplest way to create a certain kind of atmosphere, this does not work here. At least not for me.

Now don't get me wrong. It doesn't always take black metal to make me happy, and the music definitely fits the words very well while black metal wouldn't, but this doesn't necessarily make a great album. The album definitely has its moments; the beginning, for example, is amazing, as the intro really makes you feel the Hexenwind and sets the mood. Even though I was listening to it in a large store the first time, I had to turn my back to the wall after only one minute to make sure no-one was behind me, and the way it blends over into the first "real" song is one of the most awesome transitions I've ever heard, but overall, the album gets boring far too soon and it's really hard to get through it all the way.

The other big problem I have with the album is its uncompromising demand for full attention, which makes it a release you'll listen to about five times a year, perhaps even less often. Considering how many great albums there are out there, I wouldn't spend my money on "Hexenwind".

I have listened to the earlier 3 Dornenreich albums, but to be honest they didn’t succeed to impress me, their style of symphonic dark metal was too melodic and idyllic for me. But now something happened with this band, something good from my point of view. Now their music is more simple, the sound is more natural and the previous symphonic parts disappeared.

Although many reviewers say that, it’s a mistake to classify Dornenreich as Black Metal. Yes, the music, the riffs, the atmosphere are very close to Black Metal, but Dornenreich is more subtle and softer than standard BM. The CD contains 4 long tracks (+ intro), all of them are constructed on riffs and harmonies which are somehow rooted in BM, but Dornenreich doesn’t have the aggression and the rawness of this style, which in their case is irrationally a good point.

They use only a few riffs per each song, but they know perfectly when to change the riff, when is time to introduce an acoustic break or when is the time to end the song. The vocals are mostly whispered, but classic BM weeping is present too. Musically they are like an original mix between Empyrium and Burzum, but much straightforward than Empyrium and much softer than Burzum. Sorrowful riffs with many acoustic and folk-influenced interludes, accompanied by an uncomplicated, but very effective drum. These simple, but very good-composed songs emanate pure melancholy, the melodies are haunting and once you put this CD in your player, you step onto a journey where you are the lonesome visitor and the music is the guide to the depths of your soul. And if you take the journey, at the end you realize that the expedition purified you. I know it’s a cliché, but this is the perfect music for long, dreary winter nights.

It’s not new that Black is the most overcrowded genre in the wide Metal spectre. It’s not a mystery neither that it had followed an important evolution towards the avant-garde side, and from time to time some outstanding bands rise above the overall mediocrity, and with originality and strength become milestones that keep us believing in the future of the style.

That is exactly the case of Dornenreich, this unknown Austrian jewel that born as a Prog/Black band and moved with each album through more experimental paths, throwing away with “Hexenwind” the last remains of Extreme Metal to create a clean avant-garde disc enriched with neo-folk spices that was one of the most beautiful offerings of 2005.

“Hexenwind” is basically a highly atmospheric album, with simple acoustic guitar riffs and almost improvised keyboards, which is perfectly done and gives a fantastic fresh touch. All songs pass the 10 minutes barrier except the intro and an instrumental interlude, and what can I say… they all have a unique spirit and are so well constructed.

The vocals are the most distinctive element on this album. Most of the time they’re just whispers, drowned and ethereal, mixed sometimes with clean voices very refreshing. The melodic game is subtle, touching and encloses a very positive mood. This is like the perfect album to concentrate only in, in a dark room and without any other preoccupation than listening to it, because despite its apparent simplicity it’s a rather sophisticated piece of art that becomes more enjoyable while you put attention on its structure.

I strongly recommend open-minded metalheads to buy this album. I know it won’t please the taste of everybody, because it is anything but generic, but it’s just so delicate and I can’t have enough of it. My only personal problem is related with the Germany lyrics that I can’t understand, because if a band makes such touching music just couldn’t leave the poetry behind.