Eisenkult – Die Hölle ist hier (Blackened Fairy Tale Metal)
Is differentiation the true key to success? Yes, says Germany’s Eisenkult, who come from the Black Forest (not actually, but let’s pretend) bringing dark fables through riff and screech. There’s a particular form of black metal in their homeland that dips into the schadenfreude that imparts patterns onto the Germanic mind down to roof peaks and pretzels. The difficulty in putting that into metal is it can come off as childish, losing any sense of existential dread that also needs to be considered as part of the lifeblood of the descendants of the ancient Teutonic knights. I’ve seen it attempted many times, but nothing has succeeded to the level you’re about to discover in Die Hölle ist hier.
Is this really black metal? When you start to question it, you know a band’s doing something right. With the constant wave after wave of band trying to emulate the things of old, divergences, however subtle, are a must. But Eisenkult goes beyond subtlety to strident. Though you’ll find certain connections to black metal as-is, Die Hölle ist hier includes a spectacular sense of dark folk that moves into the realm of fairy tale. With strikingly frontal keyboard passages, even pulling out some goddamn Bach for the supreme leaders of the world, Eisenkult reveal they have more to offer than most of their kin, if not all in certain cases. When a band is able to take a sound like this that shifts from Hänsel and Gretel wailing for their daddy to the witch about to taste of their flesh, it’s something special. Better yet, goddamn it, this shit is black metal thaumaturgy.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Eisenkult – Die Hölle ist hier
Purity Through Fire
Cover Art: Band
4.6 / 5
