Weekly album: Grimburg - Naturherrschaft

Grimburg - Naturherrschaft

2008 / Pagan metal

1. Einklang

2. Des Walder Mysterium

3. Hexentanz

4. Moria

5. Naturherrschaft

6. Dir Rückkehr Gemaniens

tp5170: How I ever came across such a small release remains a total mystery even for myself but Naturherrscaft was actually one of the first things that got me interested in the whole pagan black metal business. It’s a short but intriguing release rich with ‘misty’ atmosphere you don’t encounter that often. The mixing of the harsh and clean vocals is managed pretty well and it’s in my mind the album’s strong suit. The songwriting is generally not too bad either and the different tracks have totally different themes attached to them. The tracks are also complicated enough to avoid that monotonic feel to them. It’s not perfect album by any means, but it’s entertaining enough to make me spin it every now and then, plus it brings back some good memories..

Kattroll: The weekly album pick wasn't a nostalgia trip this time, for this week's pick, Grimburg's first and last EP 'Naturherrschaft' released in 2008, is a totally new and unknown release to me. The artwork of the album and the genre are promising, so let's roll. 

The album begins with a pretty piano intro, which is joined by electronic sounding baroque instruments. The intro only lasts roughly for about a minute and leads to an atmosphere that comes almost straight from a medieval castle's troubadour performance. The vocals are partly clean vocals, done in a way that fits the theme, and partly rougher vocals. From these two, the latter one hits me a lot better than the former. The third song is sort of more active, still baroque style song. One could almost dance to this, even though this also reminds me of some old video game's soundtrack. 

There were couple of fun parts on the album, but I'm not sure if I had listened to the album to the end, if I didn't have to write about it. If I long for medieval atmosphere with dragons and maids, I'd rather listen to some cheesy power metal or real baroque music. 'Die Rückkehr Germaniens' was absolutely the best song on this album, and I would have loved to hear more music like that, even though it doesn't really stand out from the rest of the pagan metal bands from Germany. 

Orostider: According to metallum, Grimburg was a pagan metal band from Germany and managed to release two demos and one EP. Their logo made an impression on me and I looked forward to hearing this EP. My assumption was that I'm digging into an album by a band similar to Riger, Finsterforst and other German pagan/folk metal with hints of black metal. The assumption was not entirely wrong, but the quality, or the lack of it from time to time, surprised me.

Now don't get me wrong, this is not a horrible album deserving to be burned in eternal fires, but I really don't see myself coming back to this. The worst thing was probably the production. Good production doesn't mean it has to be entirely clear or modern or anything like that. Good production can be lo-fi and messy, but it has to be in balance. That's the thing Grimburg failed to do. It sort of seems like the only thing where they managed to succeed, was the synth sound. And some of the choir parts. The vocals sound like they are glued on top of the rest of the instruments quite often, the drums are either triggered and mixed awfully or programmed with horrific equipment. These two things alone won't ruin an album, but the overall sound and structure of the album just doesn't work. At least for me. 

Understanding why people like this is not even hard. Their way of executing this genre is simultaneously so joyous and eery and they really nailed the synth sound every now and then. Even if the album itself didn't assure me to come back to it, I will probably re-listen 'Hexentanz' occasionally even though it's one of the cheesiest songs I've heard for a while. 'Moria' had its moments too, but the sort of awful moments are just too much. Nevertheless, this was an interesting ride.      

btcarey: After listening to “Naturherrschaft” for the third or fourth time I can comfortably say that I’m quite pleased with this short EP. I really enjoy music that takes the listener on a journey and “Naturherrschaft” does just that. The EP’s intro track features an alluring piano melody, immersing you into the likes of gothic Germany for the rest of the album. By the start of the first song I was walking through a medieval city, surrounded by the chaos of bustling townsfolk and the sound of the choir in a nearby cathedral. The rest of the EP follows in these footsteps rite until the end, with a delicate piano outro easing you back into reality.

While a large portion of pagan metal bands have a pretty dark and cold sound, “Naturherrschaft” has a relatively warm atmosphere, full of energy and life. I mean this EP really pumps me up, makes me want to challenge someone to a sword fight! The music itself is pretty basic. With a few mediocre solos, the guitar is pretty weak. Fortunately the keyboard/pianist makes up for this deficit with creative and suiting keyboard melodies.

Even though the music lacks in depth, “Naturherrschaft” is a fun, easy listen that takes you on a quick journey through the past (about a 20 minute journey to be exact). It is definitely worth a few spins, especially for those that are fans of pagan or folk metal.

Favorite Song: Des Waldes Mysterium