Here again the one-man band projects fanatic! That’s right, these projects fascinate me, but there’s one I’ve reviewed before and that was one of the best albums of 2019! We are talking about this review: MEUCHELMORD – Waffenträger.
And lo and behold, 2021 kicked off and Purity Through fire sends me a month in advance of the new MYCHELMORD album! My question is what could Cernunnos offer again that he hadn’t already presented? And I have to say: WHAT A FUCKING ALBUM!!!
Unlike the previous one, here we have more melody, aristocratic ruralism with aggressiveness and melody. Let’s give you an overview here:
For a decade, MEUCHELMORD has held high the banner of traditional German black metal. The only work by a Cernunnos aka Kriegstreiber, the band has quietly constructed a body of work that is deeply reverent to the ancient methods of black metal, but is by no means totally stuck in the past. In fact, one can find a refreshing sense of modernity in MEUCHELMORD’s creations, which in turn makes his expression timeless – and terrifying.
Right after last year’s Schwarzmetall aus Niedersachsen (a remake of Niedersachsen Schwarzmetall from 2018) comes, without a doubt, MEUCHELMORD’s most poignant gem, Mordmelodien. Translated into English as “Melodies of Murder“, Mordmelodien is actually a melodic work – one that is dark and deadly, and proudly still defends that mentioned flag…that is, it remains faithful to the German BLACK METAL.
It was the new Waffenträger of 2018 that distilled all that terrifying power to a fiercely focused degree, but while that album focused thematically on World War II – as I mentioned in the review that the link is at the beginning of the article – Mordmelodien casts his gaze back to much older and medieval times, and aptly makes the album musically evoke an alternately aristocratic/rural headspace.
The march is equally proud but also more melancholy, the cruelly explosive violence of the past receded in favor of an often mesmerizing and always dazzling melody that sacrifices not an ounce of MEUCHELMORD’s inherent power. Likewise, the production is clear and cutting, and while that would mean “sell” (or at least neutralize) in the hands of other bands, in Kriegstreiber’s it simply highlights the band’s increasingly martial aspect. Which is all not to mention the track “Alter Geist”, which features guest vocals from former Endstille Iblis frontman, making Mordmelodien a big statement in Teutonic black metal.
As the modern Black Death threatens to drag civilization back to the dark times of the Middle Ages, MEUCHELMORD comes forward with a suitable soundtrack: Mordmelodien!
Incredible work that well channels all modern hysteria and concerns in an ancestral, primitive sense that goes back to what the world is: chaos. Each track is carved with great care, many details that make them unique! MYCHELMORD is now my favorite band from Germany and I get bombarded by sensory input whenever I listen intently.
The tracks “Schwarzes Ehrenfeld” and “Dem Ross zur Wehr” are my favorites, be it for the melody, but I believe for the melodic ensemble also associated with primal guitars worthy of 90s Black Metal. It’s an album to be heard again, from again and again…
RATE: 666
