Angmar - Zurück in die Unterwelt (2009)

For all of us that like our Black Metal with some Melodic aspects to it, today we have Angmar, a French band that would easily be considered a pissed-off version of Alcest. Angmar features magical acoustic/atmospheric passages similar to what Alcest, Fen, Celestia, etc. are doing but with an overall focus on Black Metal.

“Zurück in die Unterwelt” is the band’s second full-length album and a very memorable one. The band kicks off the album with a very hypnotic atmospheric part with backing choruses that sets the stage for the Black Metal assault that is to follow. The whole album varies between melodic sections into full-on BM aural assaults.

With three songs over 10 minutes, Angmar shows their song writing abilities. Drifting the listener through hauntingly calm passages into BM sections, the band showcases how good they are in creating long songs that cover all aspects of their sound and leave the listener ready for the next song.

One of the things we enjoy the most about “Zurück in die Unterwelt” is that the music never feels formulaic and it unfolds naturally, we never started wondering when one section will be over so we can get the next brutal (or melodic) passage. The songs are very well designed to keep the listener engaged to what’s currently going on and never thinking when will it be over (unlike other bands of the genre).

We wish that this album would have had a better production allowing it to sound even better than it does not. The guitar work is very well crafted to seamlessly switch from brutal riffing to more melodic and ‘slower’ parts and vice-versa. The BM riffing is top notch but a bit too distorted in our opinion. The drumming does a great job with keeping up between the slower and faster sections, and at times it sound like any brutal BM would sound: fast-paced and full of energy.

The shrieks are done pretty well, but the vocal parts we like the most if the multi clean vocal sections that give this album a very chilling sound. This is one element we haven’t heard much with other bands, and Angmar excels at it.

If bands like Alcest, Fen, Agalloch, etc. are too ‘slow’ for you, check Angmar out, they will surely satisfy your needs of both Melodic passages and brutal Black Metal assaults. We will surely be listening to this album a lot more over the years, so rest assured that it is a good investment.

Release: September 2009

Country: France