Dornenreich - Du wilde Liebe sei (2021)

The always mysterious and captivating Neo Folk sound of Dornenreich has been one of our favorites alongside bands like Empyrium and The Moon and the Nightspirit. While the band’s style is far from Metal, they have a certain darkness to their music that makes it quite appealing and engaging. Led by Eviga, this trio has been creating unique music for over 20 years, and “Du wilde Liebe sei” is yet another excellent release filled with dramatic arrangements, somber tempos and lush violins.

The opener “So ruf sie wach das Sehnen” immediately sets the listener in a dark trance of lush acoustic guitars and playful drums. While all singing is done in German, the language it-self is very fitting to this kind of dark and melancholic music, as the listener can enjoy in “In Strömen aus Verwandlung ein flackerloses Licht”, “Dein knochern Kosen”, and “Liebes dunkle Nacht”. There is some slight use of electric guitars here and there, with distortion too, but we feel it distracts a bit from more eclectic acoustic efforts.

One of our favorite characteristics of the band’s sound is that gradual increase in momentum and aggression that tracks like “Der Freiheit Verlangen nach goldenen Ketten” perfectly unpack. Eviga and company are masters in creating an enveloping atmosphere that slowly unravels and nicely expands as extra layers and instruments appear as we can hear in the diverse “Das Sehnen von Mond und Sonne”. Having seen the band live a few times, their music is perfectly enjoyable on a dark winter night as their live shows are as unique as their sound.

As a whole, “Du wilde Liebe sei” is one very unique and piercing release filled with moody tempos and lively instrumentation. The band’s sound has been refined over the years and their last few albums capture that. The only downside we feel with this release is that parts of songs feel the same and kind of become a blur, however, maybe this is just the desired effect of Dornenreich’s sound.

Label: Prophecy Productions

Release: June 11th, 2021

Genre: Neo-Folk

Country: Austria