Dea Artio – Zur​ü​ck in die Waldwacht

Dea Artio is a one-man atmospheric black metal project from Luftenberg/Upper Austria. It’s founded by a multi-instrumentalist Kevin Kuchlmayr alias Kvein. If his name sounds familiar to you, it’s because he’s also active, as a bassist, in various death metal bands. Unlike many of other bands/projects where Kvein is participating, Dea Artio is atmospheric black metal, where he is responsible for all instruments and vocals. Kvein/Dea Artio is definitely inspired by ancient forests, misty mountains & the occult staff mixed with traditions.

Under the moniker of Dea Artio, he has released three albums and was represented on the A Gathering Of Four split disc together with Adder’s Fork, In Dornen and Winter’s Breath. Zur​ü​ck in die Waldwacht is a relatively new third full-length recording and revision of his 2021 debut Waldwacht. Imidiately after the release of debut album he also released a six tracker called Nebelfelder and second longplayer, Nur die Sterne über dir same year. In November 2022 Dea Artio returned with this seven-tracker Zur​ü​ck in die Waldwacht.

Dea Artio’s connection to nature is not only evident from the CD cover, but also from the tracklist. Thus, Zur​ü​ck in die Waldwacht opens with some calm acoustic guitar parts on “Des rausching Baches Ursprung”. Soon after a distorted electric guitar sets in and the track develops into a mid-tempo song of the atmospheric style. Good thing about this song, and most of the album, is that even for a non-German speaking people, it’s quite understandable and listenable. It even adds some mysticism and authenticity since German is a mother tongue of this artist. With 12 minutes, the number is the longest on the album, but oddly enough one is not bored for a single moment, all due to the varied songwriting. It really has everything a fan of atmospheric black metal could ask for; melancholic atmosphere, melodic riffs, epic synthesizers, and typical (yet understandable) black metal screams.

“Am Gipfelkreuze” is a bit shorter song, and the one that seems a bit more aggressive than its predecessor, while still delivered in a mid-tempo. It’s an atmospheric song and epic song, creating and pretty much reinforcing this Alpine-atmosphere, as perfectly depicted in the fitting cover art. “Waldwacht” is again a bit faster and with a varied tempo and the inclusion of some folkish and ‘Nordic’ cold passages. I also enjoyed the purely piano and spoken word passages, kind of refreshing and unexpected, but it suits the music very well. It felt as its mystical atmosphere fits very well into the rest of the song material. It also serves as nice introduction to the following mid-track called, “Jagd”. It also clocks at almost 12 minutes, being another lengthy epic track, which has already become a trademark Dea Artio sound! “Jagd” is a fine example of the song where the atmosphere, and the whole approach, changes away from one-dimensional epic to more dangerous one, with pounding blastbeats and diverse vocals.

“Waldesruh” is another great song, following more or less same pattern as the opening song from the album. It’s lengthy, epic and with fine song-structuring and charming handling of the instruments. “Mit jedem Windhauch” is the shortest track on Zur​ü​ck in die Waldwacht. It’s an eerie and tasteful short introduction to album’s grand-finale, a closing 10-minutes long anthem, “Vom wilden Wind”. This track is an absolute banger, my favourite song from the record, offering everything your black heart desires. It shows the whole palette of diverse and varied sounds that Kvein attaches to his music. It’s clear that atmosphere has great importance in his music, but it also works very melodically.

This whole record is wonderfully produced and escapes conservative lo-fi standards without ever compromising or sounding too polished. The long running time (1 hour and 2 minutes!) of Zur​ü​ck in die Waldwacht means there are no long stretches and one is perfectly guided throughout this record. So if you like atmospheric, yet fast-paced black metal, you should not hesitate to give Dea Artio and his third record a fair chance.

For more info on this album visit https://runningwildproductions.bandcamp.com/album/zur-ck-in-die-waldwacht