Review UPRISING “III”

Uprising is the solo project of Waldgeflüster’s Winterherz. Ten years ago W. from Munich, Germany started Uprising and the latest effort is called “III”.

Except for the drums, W. plays all the instruments on “III”, while it is Austin Lunn who provides a hard-hitting drum beat, and what makes this release an unusual one is the lyrical overarching theme. Neither connected to Nordic myths nor dealing with hellish doomsday scenarios, the album is lyrically very much in the here and now.

The artwork gives an idea of what “III” is about. It is the knight who shows the red card to global coolists and flat-earthers, and Uprising do it in a rather drastic graphic version. It’s the tin-foil-hat-fraction that certainly doesn’t belong to the fanbase or target group of Uprising and social and political topics are in the center of this release.

Musically, Uprising focuses on black metal. W. doesn’t put speed into the foreground. The one-man project recorded six songs, at least those that made it onto “III”, and it is the title track “Uprise III” that sums up the musical approach of the Bavarian Black Metal force in a good way. Kept in a moderate tempo, the song contains a wider spectrum of influences. Certainly rooted in black metal, the song also contains some clean vocal parts and comes with a very solid groove. The tempo breaks are the spice that adds an extra thrill and all in all the track is a furious metal anthem that also features some melodic leads.

It’s the organ that starts “Raise a Glass”, but already after a few seconds a murderous riff takes over, before the chorus shows some melodic finesse in the context of sinister metal. Closely related to the artwork is “A Message to the Hypocrites”. It’s an angry black metal song with W. in excellent shape. Someone is really angry here. The song is the fastest and heaviest on the album, a blasting musical inferno that adds to the positive impression of “III”.

And on it goes with “While the World is Burning”, another Black Metal highlight, forged by the blacksmiths of the Netherworld. Again addressing the mischief of the current state of the planet and mankind, the song serves as a way to channel anger about things that go wrong these days.

In a way, “III” is very related to some of the more common black metal themes, especially those that are more related to nature, forest, and so on. Uprising’s mission in this context is to preserve these things. The fight against climate change as an example of the denial of facts is what fuels this album, which is already one of the highlights in black metal in 2024, as well as the sound of “III” is excellent.