Todtgelichter – Apnoe (2013)

After breaking the mold with their outstanding 2010 release “Angst”, today we have Todtgelichter back with an even more impressive release titled “Apnoe”. Continuing to push their Avant-garde Black Metal boundaries into more Post Rock/Black Metal territories, this German band manages to deliver 10 captivating songs that if you are a fan of their previous release, you will be in musical paradise for hours on end.

Featuring a new bass guitarist and vocalist, the band opens very energetically with “Embers”. The band’s excellent songwriting skills are immediately present in how this track weaves back and forth from aggressive harsh vocals sections to more dreamy parts with female vocals. The band’s female singer, Marta, has that very natural voice that we love from singers like Agnete Madder Mortem and Marjan of Autumn. The very organic dreaminess of this song makes it quite magical indeed.

One of our favorite tracks of the release comes under the name of “Lights of Highways”, a very cheeky piece that is quite intoxicating. This track starts with a jazzy vibe delivered thanks to the lush clean vocals (male and female) and the excellent percussions. The changes to more aggressive sections are quite well worked into the music and allow the band to provide a nice contrast between passages. The band goes a bit more aggressive with powerful riffing on “Expectations”, but the clean male vocals again provided that very solid contrast between the two sides. The melancholic female-led passages in this track are superb and something that will make you listen to this track over and over.

After the trippy “Kollision”, the band delivers another brilliant Post-Rock infused piece with “Beyond Silence”. The soaring vocals drive this track, but when paired with the very minimalist percussions, they are just amazing. We like to point out that there are still plenty of fast-paced sections with aggressive vocals that keep the band on the Avant-garde Black Metal side of things. The dramatic and jazzy “Soil” is one of our favorite tracks since it has that lounge feeling until the distorted guitars kick in and provide a multi-layered experience. The soaring vocals of Marta paired with the very dramatic lyrics on the chorus section make this track another one of our favorites.

Keeping things more into the Post-Rock side of things, “Odem” is quite an engaging piece that will surely open the band to a completely new market. However, the listener really gets pulled into the trippy and jazzy experimental song “Until It All Begins” and its lush string instrument arrangements. This last song comes very close to having the band sounding like The Gathering and their own brand of melancholic music. Delivering more catchy chorus sections and even more intricate riffing structures, “Tiefer Fall” is one hell of a memorable song.

Closing with the epic “Torn”, the band comes full circle and incorporate almost all of the excellent elements they have scattered around in one single track: lush vocals, weeping guitars, intricate arrangements, and dreamy passages. Overall, we are impressed on how much this band has progressed over the years and how amazing “Apnoe” turned out. They have managed to craft a nearly perfect release that pushes the boundaries with great elegance, we can only hope they keep transforming and improving their already rich and excellent music.

Release: April 15th, 2013

Genre: Avant-garde / Post Black Metal

Country: Germany