Review Summary: A promising return?
After 2017's
Era of Threnody, German act Nargaroth has returned with a new album. That long stretch of time, however, wasn't spent entirely on writing this record, since the base recordings of
Apocalyptic Steel (Trident Studios, California) had already been waiting for release since 2014. After dusting them off, these long-dormant songs only recently took their final shape. The post-production process included re-recording the drums, and René "Ash" Wagner's vocal tracks along with the final mix were also completed many years later. This naturally raises the question: did
Apocalyptic Steel mature the way as good wine is said to?
The short answer: probably not. More precisely: it depends on taste. Looking across the whole Nargaroth discography, a kind of duality emerges: there's
"grim Nargaroth" and there's
"melancholic Nargaroth”. From this angle, almost every element of
Apocalyptic Steel embodies the former goal: it clearly captures the direct, raw, and savage side of black metal. Though that's not entirely true either, more on that shortly.
Honestly, there's one thing I can't overlook: the album opens, in my view, with a completely unnecessary and distinctly irritating intro featuring what sounds like a woman screaming from a vintage recording. I'd have gladly skipped that experience entirely — it would have been enough to open straight with the riff-grinder trio starting with the track “Steel Apocalypse”. Despite their age, fairly modern-sounding riffs greet the listener through the album's first third, an effect the studio work may even amplify. The first twist comes with “Metalheart”, where speed/black riffs evoking the first wave vibe somewhat disrupt the album's flow. I understand why this track made the album (in his lyrics, René Wagner pays tribute to the bands that influenced him, albeit in a slightly forced way), but I think it would have worked much better placed at the very end of the album, as a small extra at the end of a story.
The album's most distinctive track is unquestionably “Dresden”, which might also be one of the finest creations of
"melancholic Nargaroth". Out of a sorrowful historical subject comes a frighteningly catchy, thoroughly gothic metal song. And most uniquely on the album, only clean vocals are heard here, which I think suits René Wagner extremely well. It's a personal preference, but I could absolutely imagine Nargaroth seriously shifting toward this style in the future, since this flavor would represent a genuinely welcome innovation.
In the album's final third, grim songs take center stage again, with only “Man of Mayhem” offering any real softness. The record closes with Requiem Germania”, which, let's say, leaves something to be desired. The track itself isn't really the problem — it's the relentlessly tiring croaking vocals that run through the entire album. There are surely people who like René Wagner's vocal style, but in my opinion this is
Apocalyptic Steel's weak point, and by the time the closing track arrives, it makes the whole album (except “Dresden”) feel somewhat exhausting. The main reason is probably that the vocals weren't well placed in the mix: they are simply loud (often at the instruments' expense), and since there's so much of them, it's impossible not to notice. Replayability suffers a direct damage from that.
To sum up,
Apocalyptic Steel fits neatly into the lineage of Nargaroth albums. It has its own strengths and weaknesses, but those who enjoy more aggressive black metal riffs likely won't be disappointed either. Personally, though, I'd really recommend it especially for “Dresden” too.
