Heimdalls Wacht – Geisterseher

Heimdalls Wacht is a German Black Metal quintet, one that recently partially re-invented itself when they added a new drummer and and additional vocalist to their already very experienced line-up. And, in order to celebrate this event, the band wrote, performed and produced their latest full-length album (which brings their total up to seven), which bears the title Geisterseher (which, according to a colleague of mine who is far more adept at the German language, roughly translated into ‘a person who can see ghosts’). While I, sadly, do not have any prior experience with Heimdalls Wacht, I am unable to tell you exactly how the addition of the two new members have affected the overall sound and feel of the band – I can, however, tell you that they deliver exactly what they promise. And what they promise is a modern Black Metal album, once that is dominated by pagan thoughts and notions (which is somewhat evident in what little of the German lyrics that I can understand), and through the addition of several very discreet, melodious tunes and rhythms, which fits in exceedingly well with the overall melancholic feel of the album. The use of two singers in particular help to add to this sense of dread and despair; The added vocal range is used quite skillfully by the band as a whole, making Geisterseher a quite pleasant first encounter with these German musicians. The record contains seven tracks in total, lasting fifty-five minutes from start to finish. These seven tracks vary heavily in range, however, from the shortest (entitled ”Wir Sind Die Wächter”) at four minutes and forty-six seconds, to ”Anderswelt”, which is almost three times as long at thirteen minutes and fifty-four seconds. Neither of these are the track that i am going to introduce to you, dear readers; Instead, I am going to exploit the fact that the band has released a lyrical video for the very good track ”Scyomantia”- Since my German is downright terrible, it helped me a lot to get it in writing. And mind you, while Heimdalls Wacht does have a strong emphasis on the lyrics, the strong ambience they build up through their music is more than adequate to draw you in, whether you understand what is being said or not.

Recommended for fans of early Varg and Malevolentia.

http://www.heimdallswacht.de