Every once in a while, a person will find an album that manages to alter their entire opinion on a genre. For me,
Der Wind Hat Mir Ein Lied Erzählt was one of those albums. I first heard it when I new to the genre of Black Metal, listening predominantly to only small amounts of
Mayhem,
Darkthrone and
Ulver, and considered Black Metal to be a genre that lacked any real beauty. Upon my first listen, I remained largely unimpressed, and left the album untouched for a number of months. During this time, I introduced myself to
Burzum, and discovered a kind of atmospheric Black Metal that I could really connect with. It was then that I gave
Der Wind Hat Mir Ein Lied Erzählt another chance, and I've not regretted it.
Fornost have done superb job with
Der Wind Hat Mir Ein Lied Erzählt (which I believe translates to The Wind Told Me A Song), blending calm, clean sounding pieces with the raw aggression that accompanies Black Metal. It's these changes in style that create the amazing atmosphere that surrounds the albums lyrical content, which seems to mostly regard warfare, despair, and some kind of wish for immortality, I think. As I don't understand German, I can only speak for half of the albums lyrics.
Anyway, the music itself is the focus of the record. Five (possibly 6, I'm not sure about the Outro) or the 8 songs on the album have released previously on the
Chaosaxt and
Namenlos Demo's. Assuming that the
Outro is also recycled,
Birkenwald and
Bustum are the only two new songs on
"Der Wind...", and after hearing those, with an original version of
Call Of Nergal, it's quite apparent how much Fornost have grown as a band.
Birkenwald begins as an acoustic track, with slow Folky elements and clean (operatic) vocals, before progressing into a collection of ambient sounding samples until it's finish. It's certainly on of the albums highlights.
Bustum is the more aggressive of the new songs, and without knowing better, most people could probably assume this is
Burzum. The keys in the background are very similar to those heard on
Filosofem, and as one of the longer songs one the album, it progresses through a harsh-clean-harsh sequence. It's that kind of transition that Fornost seem to have perfected, making any of the longer songs well worth a listen. That's not to say that the shorter songs a merely filler though, as they add that aggressive flair to the album.
Instrumentally,
Der Wind Hat Mir Ein Lied Erzählt is pretty sound. Nothing stands out as being particularly amazing, with the bands seemingly focusing more on their songwriting depth. Of course, there are moments that really stand out, and make you say "this is what BM is all about", like the guitar tremolo picking over the top of a slower, grooving riff at the end of the clean segment in
Towards The Fall Of Time. Production wise, it's just a normal BM release, being neither good, nor exceptionally bad. All instruments can be heard reasonably clearly, with nothing standing out as being too loud in the mix either. For the purpose of creating an atmosphere, it's pretty close to being perfect.
Pros
- The album creates an excellent atmosphere
- Great production
- Little repetition
- Good use of both Harsh and Clean passages
Cons
- Poor production (for those unfamiliar with the genre)
- Some of the calmer segments occasionally seem to drag on a little
Overall, this is an outstanding release, and from my limited knowledge of the genre of Black Metal, seems to be very worthy of a 4.5 star rating. Any fan of
Burzum, or atmospheric Black Metal should look into getting this album, and I highly recommend it.
Minor Details
Album Info
Label: Unknown (Believed to be Independent)
Playing Time: 48:27
Release Date: December 19th, 2003
Line Up
Guitar/Vocals: Draug
Guitar/Programming/Keys: Thauron
Bass/Vocals: Hrim
Drums/Programming: Tiusson
