Style: Melodic Black Metal, Folk Metal (Mixed vocals, mostly harsh)
Recommended for fans of: Dissection, Windir, Ulver, Immortal
Country: Switzerland
Release date: 29 November 2024
When you write album reviews, there is a quiet ledger in your brain that keeps track of everything you’ve listened to in preparation for the inevitable slew of end-of-year writeups. At the same time, there is trouble deciding exactly when to start these writeups: too late and you’re woefully unprepared, burning yourself out on tens of albums you didn’t check out but really should have; too early and your list will be undercooked with no room to include things that squeak their way in at the last minute. Having constructed most of my list in October, imagine my hubris when I stumbled upon Eisenwald’s marketing for Ungfell’s latest release, De Ghörnt: with an ominously gorgeous album cover and the promise of black metal with an “epic narrative” revolving around a Swiss folk tale, I was cautiously hopeful for a last-minute upset to my top albums list. Does De Ghörnt make the cut, or will Ungfell be left to fend for themselves against the cover’s goat creature?
Brimming with anthemic energy and grounded by an earthly finesse, Ungfell offers an eclectic take on black metal with many moving parts that waver between folk metal, meloblack, and second wave, on occasion even dipping their toes into NWOBHM riffage (“De Fährmaa,” “De Geischt vom Märjelesee”) and Windir-esque keyboard breaks (“Sturmglockä”, “S Alpaglüeh”). Black metal prides itself on a focus on atmosphere and instilling certain emotions in the listener, but Ungfell‘s approach chooses instead to subvert within reason the listener’s expectations at any turn they can, whether it be a surreal folk breakdown featuring full symphonics (“De Geischt vom Märjelesee”), three bass solos (“Rollibock”), or seamless transitions between Havukruunu-style meloblack and Immortal-tinged second wave (“S Alpaglüeh”). These dynamics are coalesced by a vivid retelling of an old folktale about a hunter who travels up a mountain and encounters the Rollibock, a goat-like creature who fiercely protects the glacier which stands at its peak.
Despite the potential for scattershot songwriting given the amount of ideas being juggled, Ungfell composes with acumen: opener “S Alpeglüeh” confidently thrashes about with fervor, offering quirky synth breaks in its first section that are repeated in a way that almost feels like second nature among the blistering tremolo winds. Moreover, these folkier sections are delivered in a tasteful way that doesn’t rob the track of its visceral momentum which it carries from start to finish. This is not to say that De Ghörnt is an unrelenting assault, though: following track “D Pracht vom Eggishorn” features a gorgeous folky interlude that offers time to rest and contemplate before soaring into the stratosphere with a gorgeous melodic solo; “Im Ruusch” and “De Geischt vom Märjelesee” follow suit, offering a sense of stillness through folk motifs interspersed with ferocious blast beats.
De Ghörnt is at its best when melodic high-energy ideas are explored; titular track “Rollibock (De Ghörnt vom Gletscher)” stands out as a highlight in this regard, opening with interplay between a fierce meloblack riff and gentle keyboard atmospherics. The piece ferociously tumbles around itself through its remainder, utilizing a bevy of drum patterns to create the feeling of constant motion across its runtime, making room for dire folk sections, plenty of aggressive riffage, and a veritable avalanche of bass solos. However, when eschewing traditional black metal atmospherics for melody-focused songwriting, in-your-face energy has to be matched with lower-intensity moments at risk of making the music feel, ironically, one-note and bland. A vast majority of the time, De Ghörnt’s quieter folky sections do a great job of exploring more subdued spaces, but “D Pracht Vom Eggishorn,” for example, attempts to do this with more “traditional” black metal sections that end up feeling utilitarian in nature. These moments serve to bridge two ideas of interest together without offering a lot on their own, coming across moreso as a necessary evil for the sake of cohesive composition instead of as a point of engagement. However, it’s hardly reasonable to fault Ungfell too strongly for these momentary lapses in interest when De Ghörnt on the whole delivers such personality, style, and excitement.
With all that said, does De Ghörnt make it to my end-of-year list? At the end of the day, it is a compelling black metal opus that displays Ungfell’s capacity as excellent songwriters, powering through ambitious tracks like it’s nothing and (for the most part) balancing them spectacularly against quieter moments to offer a full sense of dynamism across its runtime. With that, I can say De Ghörnt without a doubt earns a place among the best black metal albums of the year, offering plenty of nourishment to hold me over through the darker and moodier months of Fall and Winter. Its ascension to the top of my list initially came as a surprise, but after fully digesting its harrowing trek into the alps, its placement should frankly be a wonder to no one.
Recommended tracks: Rollibock (De Ghörnt vom Glestscher), Im Ruusch, De Fährmaa, S Alpeglüeh
You may also like: Havukruunu, Thrawsunblat, Hyperion
Final verdict: 8.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Label: Eisenwald – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
Ungfell is:
– Menetekel (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards)
– Vâlant (drums, vocals)
