Review VERHEERER “Urgewalt”

Black metal force Verheerer is a band from Flensburg, Germany. Founded in 2008, the group debuted in 2018 with the album “Maltrér.” The guys got some initial attention and cemented their position with the second release, “Monolith. It is said that the third release sets the direction for a band’s future, so ‘Urgewalt’ is certainly an important longplayer for Verheerer.

“Urgewalt” contains eight songs and an intro. As on their previous releases, the band from the north of Germany delivers fierce black metal that actually goes beyond excessive corpse paint and lyrical clichés. Instead, Verheerer deliver a musical colossus that is brutal and imbued with melancholy.

The album begins with the aforementioned intro which sets the destructive tone for the album. A fusion of war sound samples leads to the first song on the album, which is the title track. “Urgewalt” is a raw and unpolished piece of music. It is a furious black metal song that also reminds me of the intensity of early Celtic Frost. And it is a scream full of despair and hellish possession that ends the song in a dramatic way.

Lyrically the new album deals with mankind and the human condition. Despair, doubts and suffering are keywords that describe the lyrical approach and the title track with its eerie ending sets the tone for the other songs. Together with the First World War as a historical moment in which mankind’s weaknesses came to the fore, the songs on the album are pitch-black and titles like the moderately paced “Grabenwurm” give you the shivers.

With “Lungs” Verheerer has put a fast and furious black metal song on the tracklist. There is no foot on the brake, as the rhythm section provides a machine gun fast tempo. “Lungs” is also the most concise track, while Verheerer don’t shy away from longer songs. The finale, called “Kriegstreiber”, is an epic nine minutes long track. Beginning with a piano, the tune contains a surprising beginning, although the heaviness increases quickly. In a way the song is a summary of everything you have heard before. A mid-tempo metal bulldozer characterises the first part of “Kriegstreiber”. It is a pounding black metal anthem, which also contains some memorable breaks, like the rather melodic middle part. The second half of the songs is an alternation of blazing black metal moments and intense riff episodes, showing the creative flow of a band that is rooted in black metal while taking a wider approach to music.

Verheerer’s third album is built on a blackened soul. It reflects the evil side of humans, where suffering, destruction and even self-destruction are part of the human condition. The music is an amplifier for the lyrical approach and intensifies the feeling of discomfort while listening to the album. At the same time, it is this feeling of unease that adds to the fascination of “Urgwalt”. As far as the importance of a third full-length album is concerned, it can be said that this is the band’s best work to date, and solidifies Verheerer’s role in German black metal.