Vargnatt - Grausammler
Eisenwald
Depressive Black Metal
6 songs (40'38'')
Release year: 2015
Eisenwald
Reviewed by Jared

When black metal coincides with the depressive, tragic, and dreary, it can make for a powerful combination. Vargnatt is described by influences such as Burzum in their bio, as well as Ulver (most notably the album Nattens Madrigal). Grausammler is the first full-length debut by the German band. Black metal with a twist of the depressive added, the album has some interesting moments, but falls short.

The opener, Weltverloren, starts things off with clean sounding guitars until the blast beating meets with the raw distortion. It’s a repetitive start, and drags to the very finish during its eight minute duration. Like Burzum, Grausammler can have some repetitive moments repeating the same riff over and over, but the riffs in Vargnatt are not filled with as much character as I had hoped for. Allein in Mir begins things beautifully however, in a very soft manner with the clean guitars. The main riff here is one that is welcomed, and the album gains its true strength here. It’s a catchy and powerful tune, and its repetitive nature that continues did not deter me from this one.

Vocals are a bit hard to like on this album. They are harsh, but very difficult to listen to due to the monotonic nature. Inderlrre was one of the more difficult tracks to overcome the vocals. The repetitive guitar riffs on this one really lack personality. Surprisingly, a beautiful symphonic moment emerges at the end, one that is draped in a beautiful sadness, making me wish more moments like this were heard throughout.

As much as I wanted to like Vargnatt’s debut, it was hard to pull much out of it despite the track Allein in Mir. More songs like this would have drifted my thoughts into a more positive light. Between the repetitive riffs that were difficult to latch onto most of the time, and the shrieking monotone from the vocals, this one was tough to finish.

Killing Songs :
Allein in Mir
Jared quoted 60 / 100
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