Melancholic Seasons – Im Takt der Keule

First and foremost, I would like to extend my sincerest apologies for not writing this review before, as the truth is that I forgot all about it. I hope that the guys from Melancholic Seasons will forgive me for doing this more than half a year after the release of their third release, a mini-album entitled Im Takt der Keule. The release of their latest offering is again strategically set, as what date would be more fitting for an album that is bursting with and defying critical observations of the capitalist system than May 1st, ‘Labor Day’?!

Im Takt der Keule is a successor to their highly-acclaimed 2022 debut The Crypt Of Time, and Past Seasons Pt.1 – The Early Days, in which they dedicated themselves to the past of Melancholic Seasons. Thus, the launching of their new mini-album marks a new beginning of this Frankfurt-based trio. For those of you unfamiliar with this German band, then I can recommend our interview with band’s founding member Andi Henke here. Apart from the aforementioned Andi Henke (guitars, bass and programming), the band’s current line-up consists of two more members, namely Kevin Kiesecker (vocals) and Rene Glaser (guitars).

Im Takt der Keule contains six regular tracks in addition to the opening intro song, “In die Knechtschaft…”. The band utilize same recording techniques as on their previous opuses, mostly relaying on digital techniques esp. when it comes to the drum parts. Meanwhile, there’re also some obvious differences as this latest offering offers a playing time of just about 26 minutes, while the two predecessors each offered about an hour of playing time. Despite of the short playing time, they have a lot on these seven tracks from Im Takt der Keule. Aside of this obvious difference in the length of the recordings, another noticable difference is in the sound. Musically/instrumentally the steam thrash hammer reigns here, with a conscious focus on more thrashier parts. This means that the guitars got a good portion of sharpness and more thrashier edge.

After aforementioned menacing intro, the trio get down to business with a hellishly groovy and rhythm-focused approach on the first regular song, “Slavery”. This song is arranged in a highly exciting manner, while the dynamics and tempo shifts makes this song very entertaining. Self-titled “Im Takt der Keule” is another top-class song, which sounds a bit more melodic (although melodies are hidden in the background), dark growls and overall apocalyptic and oppressive atmosphere. “Mach Keine Assimoves” is thrashy muscular track where the frontman Kevin Kiesecker screams his voice out in a wonderfully brutal way,. It works very nicely as an effective contrast to the melodic guitars. The following “Pandemonium” has a bit more groove and it rangers mosty at a medium pace, while “Schwarmintelligenz” features very strong lyrical content with a little social criticism. Finally, “The Ultimate Sinn” flirts with hyperactive thrash metal at the end, serving as an ultimate and grandiose album closer.

The small and nuanced innovations make the material seem more aggressive and direct than what we are used to hear from Melancholic Seasons before. I think it suits them very well. On the other hand, I prefer English lyrics in a Melancholic Seasons’ release, but this latest work proves that the three Hessians also have the German lyrics under control.

This time the cover was created by Timon Kokott, and it perfectly reflects the mood of Im Takt der Keule. The artwork is also impressive with focus on every small detail, while once again underlying the mood of the band while recording this mini-album.

In short; Im Takt der Keule is more than just a decent successor to their debut The Crypt Of Time, which has already set the bar very high. It is a stylistic pot between death metal and thrash metal. Thus the final result is a homogeneous and varied half an hour of music, perfectly representing the current status of the band. Especially recommended for fans of Soilwork, In Flames, Edge Of Sanity, At The Gates, Kreator and similar melo-death & thrash metal acts.

For additional info on this latest material from Melancholic Seasons visit https://melancholicseasons.bandcamp.com/album/im-takt-der-keule