Hailing from the frostbitten mountains of Switzerland, Ernte (German for ‘Harvest’) unleashes its fourth full-length album. Like its predecessor, ‘Weltenzerstörer’, it is raw, hypnotic Black Metal.
The first song is fairly fast, while the following six tracks are slower and crawling. The connecting element is the hate-driven vocals. These are consistent, while the tracks themselves offer plenty of variety without straying from a path of simple, repetitive, yet hypnotic songwriting.
The atmosphere here is created neither by keyboards (just set to a ‘Dark Choir’ preset) or choruses, nor by lengthy guitar intros, spoken word passages, or other elements not confirmed to be “trve.” Instead, the atmosphere on this release stems from guitars as cold as glaciers and monotonous, but never boring, song structures. Ernte manages to walk the fine line between repetitive elements and variety.
For a quick taster, try the song ‘Lord of Ascending Flames’; it serves as a perfect summary of the album. If you want the full experience, check their label, Purity Through Fire. Thumbs up for this piece of alpine darkness.
