War Metal ist Krieg - "Der Fünfzehnjährige Krieg" Review (95%)
The 2003 release of Totenlieder (roughly "songs of the dead") is quite possibly one of the best bestial metal releases ever, black metal or otherwise, alongside Neraines' Yggdrasil and Phantom's Memento Mori.
Why? Because Wolf and crew play black metal the way it was intended. It is fast, raw but not cheap sounding, evil and... intelligible. Yes, you read that right. How about that a war metal/bestial black metal band that has vocals that don't sound like the vocalist is cooking his testicles in boiling water? It's about time if you ask me.
The other great thing about this album and Absurd is you can hear everything clearly on the album. The guitars, bass, drums, and vocals are all distinct and not a distorted wall of noise as with most "low fi" bedroom NSBM bands. Every song on the album comes like a panzer division frenzy at full throttle with guns blazing at you.
And Absurd takes no prisoners. This style of black metal is closer to grindcore than most would consider black metal, but the atmosphere definitively is there. These Teutons play some of the fastest metal while never being sloppy. That is what I love about this album.
Every single song stands out and is extremely solid. They do not jumble up, and each song does not sound just like the previous one like in most modern "war metal". The riffs are solid as hell and Wolf has the best vocals in black metal today. I tried to find something weak or displeasing with this Totenlieder album but there is not one thing wrong with it.
War Metal ist Krieg
Each song is its own masterpiece, war metal played in typical, and ever-surprising, Absurd-fashion.
Absurd has never been seen as a big player like Burzum or Graveland, but Der Fünfzehnjährige Krieg is littered changing the game, and one has to wonder why they've been absent from the black metal Pantheon for so very long. These guitarists really know what they're doing, as can be easily heard by the numerous amazingly dark yet intense riffs and fast solos they play throughout each song.
Wolf's, as always, does not disappoint. He's no Phantom, certainly, but the man can certainly use his voice to the maximum effect to compliment the music played on Der Fünfzehnjährige Krieg.
The blastbeats are amazing and never sound forced, as they often do with lesser drummers. And the speed of the drummer's hands is comparable at times to some of black metal most proficients players - Hellhammer of Mayhem and mid-era Marduk - where he has to be playing at, at the very least 25 bps per hand. It's incredible, and adds a lot to the music, instead of being just a senseless display of talent with a drumkit.
Der Fünfzehnjährige Krieg is amazing, blasphemous, aurally orgasmic, revolutionary, and just all-around incredible - everything you've come to expect from an Absurd release. Primarily for fans of grindcore and black metal, this album is an absolute must-have, especially for anyone who enjoys the more aggressive side of war metal music.
Get this album Der Fünfzehnjährige Krieg at all cost, it is blackened war metal perfection.
Der Fünfzehnjährige Krieg score: 95/100.
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