Freitod – Regenjahre (2012)

Delivering a very interesting combination of Black Metal with some Gothic/Dark Metal elements, today we have Germany’s Freitod and their sophomore release “Regenjahre”. This journey through seven tracks and 52 minutes of brilliantly crafted music is a very unique one since the band keeps a perfect balance between harsh and aggressive Black Metal brush strokes and highly melancholic overtones creating a lush Post-Black Metal experience.

The album start with the title track and the band immediately sets the mood with excellent guitar work and a very catchy pace. The melodic aspect of Freitod is excellent and on tracks like this one they use it perfectly. Combining crushing harsh vocals with dreamy Gothic Metal/Rock clean vocal sections the band creates a very unique and melancholic atmosphere. The band further uses these tools to contrast the brutality of their Black Metal roots with their lush melancholic side, and tracks like “Der Traumsturm” and “Neue Wege” are clear examples of this.

Without being as ‘soft’ as other Post-Black Metal bands like Alcest, Freitod never goes with the soft guitar effects or shoegaze-ish sounds, they keep them aggressive and sharp reminding us more of Todtgelichter and Agrypnie. Our favorite tracks in this release have to be the highly melancholic “Sterbenswet” with its excellent melodic passages, and the lush “Nichssagend” that combines some of the heaviest sections in this release with excellent drumming and nicely contrasting clean vocals.

Closing with the 12-minute epic “WennAllesZerbricht”, the band nicely rounds up an excellent release with more solid riffing and very tight drumming. We are very impressed with the richness of Freitod’s sound and their uniqueness. If you are looking for some excellent Melancholic Black Metal / Post-Black Metal, look no further and check this band out.

Release: September 2012

Genre: Post-Black Metal

Country: Germany