Search - Sturmgeist :: Meister Mephisto

This is SO GOOD!!!

A Kat Person | Bay Area | 05/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow, I can't believe no one wrote a review for this yet! This is fantastic, stompin' stuff. It is quite original; the sticker on the CD wrapper describes it as "Grim Germanic Thrash" - a fair description, but inadequate! I hear elements of thrash, black metal, viking metal, and some doomy gothic/industrial. Maybe like... Rammstein meets Falkenbach? Probably not a great comparison but it's difficult to describe!



Much of this music has a very strong, heavy, rhythmic, marching quality to it, there is also some keyboard use in very interesting, enhancing ways. And, I don't know if this is the production or what, but the whole album has this amazing echo-like quality to it, as if it was recorded in some great huge hall.



The languages of the songs vary - some English, a lot of German (which sounds particularly powerful with the thrashy music!) and another language I cannot determine. The guy's voice is absolutely amazing, very doomy/gothic, very powerful-sounding.



Here's a song-by-song breakdown:



1. Ragnarok - 10/10 - a standout! "Ragnarok" chants gives it an especially epic feel. Not sure what language it's in, but sounds cool!



2. Shock & Awe - 7/10 - This one's in English, pure poetry against American policy in Iraq. Musically it is not as interesting as the other songs (hence the 7) but the lyrics are strong.



3. Erlkonig - 10/10 - slower in tempo, very stompin' sound, his voice is incredible on this one! This guy has growly and clean vocals that are equally amazing.



4. Army of Odin - 11/10 - Total standout!!! AMAZING!!! Again, his voice works wonders. Great thrashy guitar. Great "Army of Odin" and "Vikings of Midgard" chants in the background. This is the song I heard first, and I bought the album just on the merit of this song.



5. Master Hunter - 10/10 - shifting tempos - slower tempo with strong drumming on a lot of parts along with the cool gothy vocals, then speeds up in other parts.



6. Rattenfanger - 8/10 - doesn't stand out so much but still a solid slower-tempo track with strong guitars and German lyrics that go great with the music.



7. Grimmer than Ugly - 9/10 - another good solid track but not quite a stand-out, English lyrics on this one. A great marching quality to it that reminds me of some Viking metal.



8. Walpurgisnacht - 10/10 - This one is in 2 parts, making 9 tracks total. Very strong! Varying tempos, in many parts has the slower marching feel typical of other songs on this album, then in certain parts breaks out in some fierce black metal sounding stuff! Goes back in forth that way throughout the song, and ends the album very fiercly!



In general, this album is very, very, very highly recommended to any fan of interesting, heavy music."

Industrial black metal at its finest

Nontheistdavid | Missouri | 09/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you have ever heard of Solefald the brilliant avant garde black metal band then you know what you are in for with this. One of the best industrial black metal albums I have ever encountered. I also recommend the works of Solefald, another brilliant black metal band on the cutting edge."