Ravenfrost – Ein Streifzug Am Abgrund Der Seele
Imagine another holocaust! One in which the Jews are not the quarry but one where the exterminees are German Black Metal bands. I would be the aggressor and those who survive a perilous train journey, brutal working conditions, dubious washing facilities and finally manage to squeeze under the electric fences and escape to freedom, would be few.
Ravenfrost would be one of those. I would have let them escape. A one man band attacking from Saarland with some intelligent and diverse compositions without sacrificing integrity or using helpings of Deutsch Black Metal cheese like so many of their fellow countrymen. That is surprising when you consider the usage of keyboards and picked undistorted guitar. My ears sniffed out quite a range of influences from old school stuff, depressive Black Metal and also more contemporary styles.
The intro comprises of dark slow funerary piano and charges the atmosphere accordingly. ‘Marching Into Desperation’ cuts through the air with raw vocals and immediately surges forward in an avalanche of pent up animosity. Just simple but effective riffing, underproduced – as it should be, harsh singing with layered depth and medium paced drumming. It makes for one of those pure nasty underground experiences as it rumbles away in a similar fashion to a fierce earthquake.
‘Aurora Luciferis’ seems to take a little while to get going, probably because it opens with a new style depressive riff of medium-slow tempo. Eighty seconds in the mood swings and becomes darker like a possessed mental. ‘Der Eiskalte Hauch Der Leere’ is an instrumental featuring some clean guitar and more depressing style riffmongering. That in itself would normally be enough to make me turn the CD off but Ravenfrost has other ideas and that stuff doesn’t last long as some creepy piano kicks in alongside thunderclaps and repeats until the track fades out. I view it as an extended intro to the next track ‘Einsamkeit’. In my opinion this is unquestionably the best song on the disc and is fast on its way to becoming one of my personal favourites.
An intoxicating and unusual blend of imaginative and compelling composition laced with threatening atmosphere. A short passage of effects lead into a slow picked riff with rumbling percussion. A while later the song takes the listener by the bollocks when they least expect it and twists viciously into heaviness, accompanied by perfect drumming which really compliments the slow pace. Overlay some clear guitar notes and you have brilliant darkness. It fades out with a minute or so of the most brutal piano playing! I strongly advise you to check this one out, at the time of writing it was on the Myspace page.
When the first notes of ‘To End Their Reign Of Lies’ began I thought they’d blown it. Too many keyboards and a slightly Gothic style destroying the excellence of the previous track. After a couple of listens though it slots in a great contrast and when the keyboards diminish there’s a nice crisp riff to feast upon that makes this a decent song in its own right. ‘Kenophobia’ is another instrumental played mainly on keyboards while it doesn’t subtract anything from the CD I feel it adds nothing, except a showcase of piano playing ability maybe. ‘Risen From Slaves’ Drives a stake right through the keyboards though and finishes off the album superbly in a calamitous fashion with grumpy riffage and deep necro vocals.
In conclusion this is a fine release even with it’s imperfections. Although there is quite an amount of keyboards they seem to work because they are predominantly acoustic piano which adds an air of authenticity if you know what I mean. This is mainly not verse chorus verse Black Metal and tends not to follow set patterns which is brilliant for the listener as it’ll keep you guessing and interested for a long time. Not content to hammer out a release all in the same style there are numerous changes and is testament to the talent of Ravenfrost and the hard work, or natural creativity, or both, has really paid off. The bar has been and we are expecting more quality sounds from Ravenfrost in future.
I admit I was more than a little sceptical when I got a request to review this Italian band. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a band that sounded more like some American gospel singers than satanic Black Metal! Thankfully after literally one second of listening my somewhat ridiculous assumptions were raped and pillaged [...]
I only recently discovered Rahu, who purvey original and very replayable Finish Black Metal of the highest calibre. This is a demo from 2008 that has since been released as part of a best of featuring this and their other demo on one CD. Although there are only three tracks delivering a mere seventeen minutes [...]
Einsamkeit is a great track (I’ve added it to the Hell Furnace Myspace player…)