Endstille – Infektion 1813 (Season of Mist Records)
Friday, 22nd March 2013
Like Dark Funeral, Endstille doesn’t know how to do much else than roll out those tremolo-picked riffs, frazzled chords, and vast helpings of blast beats, but on Infektion 1813, the German black metal ensemble do their best to break from the course. For that (and the unconventional cover art), Endstille deserves a corpse-painted caked golf clap.
Infektion 1813 marks the debut of ex Nagelefar singer Zingultus, who lends a similar black-lunged vocal approach like his predecessor Iblis. When the one-two punch of “Anomie” and “Trenchgoat” come barreling down the way in typical Endstille fashion, it’s starts to look like the band aren’t in any rush to deviate from their comfort zone. However, “Bloody H (The Hurt-Gene),” that manages to kick into head-banging gear (finally), and is embellished with some haunting vocal passages from the aforementioned Zingultus. Same bodes for “The Deepest Place On Earth,” although it eventually turns into a whirling, maniacal blast-a-thon.
The omnipotent guitar buzz that hovers above Infektion 1813 emerges as the most dominant factor alongside the faster-than-fast tempos the band so abides by. Guitarist L.Wachtfels has a vast arsenal of gnarly, razzed guitar riffs and chord ideas, some of which create an eerie sense of dissonance during “When Kathaaria Falls” and “World Aflame,” which starts with the sample “A German sparks has always ignited the fire. Soon everything will be aflame.” Hard to say if Endstille will ever set the black metal world on fire, but if there was the proper reincarnation of Panzer Division-era Marduk, it would be this.
(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)
