Bethlehem – Stönkfitzchen (2010)

After getting trashed for their ‘re-interpretation’ of their “S.U.i.Z.i.D” album, today we have “Stönkfitzchen” the return of Bartsch and company to the more deranged and totally sublime side of Dark Metal and the Bethlehem sound we all love. Niklas Kvarforth is now somewhat adjusted to the band and their lyrics in mostly German, allowing Bethlehem to sound very deranged and as weird as always.

The first moment we received this promo CD we immediately started listening to it since we are huge fans of Bethlehem and Kvarforth’s work with Shining, and let me tell you, we were not disappointed at all with this cosmic combination of probably two of the most twisted people in Metal: Bartsch and Kvarforth.

The band’s essence is immediately present with the decadent opening to “Was ihr seid, das waren wir - Was wir sind, das werdet ihr”, and it’s all up hill from there. The deranged screams from Kvarforth, the creepy piano sections, the weeping guitars make this song, and the dark atmosphere make this song a very impressive opening for such an action packed release.

“Kalt regelt ab die Krankgeburt” keeps the same pace with a creepy intro, crushing guitar riffing and a pounding bass guitar line. The drumming is very tight and keeps things nice and clean, but the tempo changes are what make this song a gem on its own, and when paired with the mournful vocals, you are as close to hell as I can imagine.  The third track “Yesterday I Already Died Today”, keeps up the nice tempo and atmosphere with a somewhat ‘mid-paced’ hypnotic song where you can actually understand and follow the lyrics, not to mention a killer guitar solo.

Keeping things dark and twisted, “Kandierte Verlosung zu Ross” never fails to maintain the atmosphere with a little bit more of intensity. However, the disturbing part is the solemn piano opening of “Pillerthrillaren”, I wish the band would have continued this line, but the rest of the song is crushing enough to make us forget, only to be reminded of it 1 minute before the ending of this haunting song. In the bonus track “The 11th Hour”, the band closes things very dramatically.

In general, Bethlehem ahs always had a knack for making twisted sounding music and now with Kvarforth on vocals, they are unstoppable. “Stönkfitzchen” is an EP that will surely impress all the band’s fans and will blow away new listeners that are not used to such bizarre and twisted sounds, we definitely recommend you get this album.

Release: October 22th, 2010

Country: Germany