Despite having a slew of vinyl releases out at this point, here's the debut full-length from this unique German project. This CD includes all new material (consisting of seven lengthy pieces) and certainly delivers, exploring the no nonsense dark ambient side of the project and shedding the scattered black metal influences of past efforts. "Visionen N?chtlicher Fluten" adds in some light percussion amongst the orchestral synths that are ever present in Vinterriket's work. More musical than the opening track, this piece is very long and fairly repetitive, but the percussion helps things flow. Towards the end a faster run comes in with piano and some slightly less effective synth tones that lack the warm, natural ring that I'd prefer. "Im Sog der Feuer des Schicksals" is the longest track at nearly 12 minutes and is sort of a marker for what most of this material sounds like. The performance is actually very fluid, and the lower tones sound excellent, but the higher the notes get the flatter and more computerized things can tend to sound. Some of the synth tones feel a bit flimsy to me... and that sort of air gives things a cheesiness that I often find bothersome with this style of music. It's not the note choice that irritates me at all, but the actual synth tones themselves. I feel like these songs would be far more effective with warmer, darker textures. "Die Ruinen des Jenseits" is a perfect example: A far more sinister offering than any of the other tracks (somewhat like opener "Boten der R?ckkehr"). While it still possesses musical elements, the overall feel is a bit less structured and more experimental, which is something that I'd love to hear explored more, because this track is by far the strongest and most diverse on the entire CD. As with all Vinterriket releases the layout looks very nice, consisting solely of black and white photographs of bleak forest landscapes. The CD comes in a slick digipack with a large booklet inside that basically includes the song titles and two pages of photographs per song. Not too shabby. As is also common with Vinterriket's work the small, decorative fonts are hard to read, but since my German isn't too strong that also plays a significant factor, ha, ha... It looks very professional, and that's what matters. All in all I do miss the black metal aspects of the project's earlier work, but the music is still transitioning into something promising that maintains its professional demeanor. I still prefer the slightly less musical material, and I'm sort of surprised not to hear any vocal work here, but this is another strong release in the Vinterriket catalog.
[Regimental]
Running time - 64:08, Tracks: 7
[Notable tracks: Boten der R?ckkehr, Kosmische Schattenspiele, Die Ruinen des Jenseits]
Regimental Records - http://www.regimentalrecords.com
