KLABAUTAMANN

This is an absolutely amazing album. The sound is somewhat black metal in nature, but with much more folk and prog influences and plenty of acoustic guitars. I would say about half of this album is fast-paced metal, with the remainder being slower acoustic parts, but the way the band moves so seamlessly back and forth between the two is incredible. The vocals are standard black metal style, mainly mid to high growls and shrieks, with the occasional lows, nothing out of the ordinary really though (aside from the female vocals on the last song, but I'll get to that). The drums are very solid, and the drummer does do some interesting stuff throughout the course of the record. The bass isn't too audible most of the time, unless you're really listening for it. It mainly serves as a melodic complement to the guitars, nothing too extraordinary though. But the listener quickly notices that this is a primarily guitar-driven album. The dual guitars are constantly interweaving with one another, be it acoustic or distorted. Some parts are actually pretty technical, but they still retain their folk influence most of the time. But my only problem with this album, and my reason for giving a 4 star rating, is the last song, "October". Where did this come from, and more importantly why is it here? The guitar riffs are really cheesy, and the usage of female vocals only adds to the cheesiness of it. Now I'm not against female vocals in metal or anything, there are times when they fit (listen to early Abigor, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames), but it just does not work here and the outcome is terrible. Overall it sounds like an emo band, and that is not an exaggeration. But you can safely disregard this song, and you've got an otherwise spectacular album. Any fans of progressive metal should listen to this immediately. Highly recommended.