Totale Vernichtung's name was vaguely
familiar from earlier this year and even after a couple of listens of
their brand new album Feuerbestattung I couldn't figure out where I
had seen the name; but now I'm pretty sure it's their demo Die
pechschwarze Artillerie that I saw being hyped in the spring, but for
an unknown reason never checked it out. And now I can say that I'm
glad I finally dismissed even the rather general artwork and delved
into the music itself because what we've got here is some ingenious
underground black metal.
Feuerbestattung is, in spite of some
traditional values, an odd bird. There's surely a crunchy production,
a drum machine, tremolo-picked riffs and other such features of a
regular black metal release, but the guitars are doing something
truly weird here. I tend to think these riffs are an equivalent of
those Sonic games on Sega: these melodies twirl and twist in such a
lively manner and speed that, if separated form the music around it,
this would barely be black metal. For more relevant (musical)
comparisons, you could think of Eisenwinter but a thousand times more
active and catchy, or Peste Noire when it comes to the riffs' overall
inventiveness. The clear drum machine, as well as the vocals and the
language they're performed in, hint also to Wehrhammer's direction.
Inspirational would be a good word in
depicting the essense of Feuerbestattung, and I don't think there's
any need to analyse individual tracks, as the scheme remains the same
throughout. The actively wandering riffs consisting of very high
notes are the key to the album's success in my books. I can't think
of any other band playing black metal exactly like this, which is a
good sign. Feuerbestattung deserves a worthy recommendation, and
although there are some minor issues such as the drums (programmed
ones are always at least a tiny nuisance), this album is definitely a
refreshing experience.
4 / 5
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