Review Summary: Der Weg Einer Freiheit are masters of consistency and excellency within black metal.
It’s crazy to think that Der Weg Einer Freiheit’s debut was released over 15 years ago now. When it first dropped in 2009, it was seminal in the flurry of late-2000s/early-2010s atmospheric black metal albums and widely hailed as one of the best in the genre for the 2000s. Now, all of this time later, the boys are still kicking ass and taking names with their brand of unblemished atmospheric black metal, and while never veering too far off their path, they know exactly what buttons to push to create a suffocatingly delicious black metal album.
Innern sticks to the overall formula that the guys have been following for many years. Cleaner production with an emphasis on making the riffs and drums sound as devastatingly heavy as possible and glass-shattering, high-pitched shrieks that sound like cries of pain from the psyche ward. The opener, ‘Marter’, starts with a glitchy backdrop before being whisked into blackgaze-inspired, mid-paced riffage. In typical Der Weg Einer Freiheit fashion, the post-rock-ish build-ups and ambience the riffs create lead into an outro that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Portal album. Dense tremolo picking and barbaric blast beats take over to toss you like a rag doll in the eye of a hurricane. Primary songwriter, and band founder, Nikita Kamprad knows exactly how to balance heaviness and overall aura of the album. And that’s just a taste of what’s to come.
‘Xibalba’ is absolutely monstrous and possibly the grooviest song the band has ever written. Thrashy riffs dominate the first 5 and a half minutes before transitioning into a spacious post-metal soliloquy equipped with soothing electronics and a doomgazey undercurrent for the last 4-plus minutes. The intro to ‘Eos’ continues the relaxing theme with a drawling, western-tinged riff before all hell breaks loose. This track is like if you took the dissonant harshness of Deathspell Omega, the white static of Thantifaxath and the plodding murkiness of The Ruins of Beverast and blended them together. An all around menacing track that could possibly be the best one they’ve ever done.
A tweak that they’ve made, that I alluded to already, is that there’s a subtle, dry western twang to a lot of the riffage. ‘Fragment’ continues along those lines with a super catchy riff to open the track. There’s an epic folkiness reminiscent of Enslaved present, especially with the triumphant cleans sailing over the tribal drums and rejoicing riffs. The two-minute interlude that follows is actually completely non-skippable as it sets the scene for the closer. A soft piano plays a brief passage that sounds like it would be a popular choice in a haunted chapel. The closer, ‘Forlorn’, starts off in angelic dream pop with reverb-laden chords and tranquil cleans before you’re hit with some groovy, post-punk meets blackgaze-influenced riffs. It’s really nice to see the guys branch a tad outside their wheelhouse at times.
At its core,
Innern is just another Der Weg Einer Freiheit album, but underneath the surface, there are plenty of successful tweaks that make it stand out in a discography full of bangers. They still have their core sound with the gliding atmosphere and hypnotic, melodic riffs, but they’ve added other elements to keep longtime fans on their toes. Over 15 years in the black metal game and these Germans are showing no signs of falling off. While I still prefer the stripped-back nature of the self-titled and the masterful riff clinic that is
Finisterre just a bit more,
Innern is still a top-tier atmospheric black metal album in its own right. So lay back, put your headphones in and let the sea of riffs flow over your mind and soul.
