At almost exactly this same time last year we had the pleasure of premiering a song from the first album by a captivating German melancholic black metal band named Stilleklang. That album, Tränen der Vergangenheit Part 1, was (as its title portrayed) the first part of a two-part work. And now the second and concluding part is ready for release and it’s again our pleasure to host a song premiere.
The songs on Tränen der Vergangenheit Part 2 date from the same period as the first album, both in terms of the compositions as well as the recording and mastering. On both albums Stilleklang‘s sole member Fabian Veith was joined by two guest musicians — Markus Röll (Gernotshagen, Herbstlethargie) on drums and M. on violin.
Last year we described Stilleklang‘s music as “a multi-faceted fashioning of black metal that’s elegant and poignant as well as harsh and livid” — both somber and tormented, spellbinding and wondrous. Those words come to mind again in listening to the long song from the latest album that we’re presenting today — “Sehnsucht lauert“.
Heartache is as inescapable a feature of human existence as the setting of the sun each day, and it dwells deeply within “Sehnsucht lauert“. The song proceeds in a slow trudge at first, with dismal distorted guitar chords spreading loneliness and gloom, and crystalline ethereal tones wailing up above.
The experience becomes even more bereft when the song’s pulse vanishes, yielding to a moody acoustic guitar, plaintive piano arpeggios, heartbreaking violin melodies, and somber spoken words.
But as mentioned, there is also torment in Stilleklang‘s music, and here it takes shape through ragged and wrenching screams, feverish drum-bursts, and trilling, balalaika-like guitars that spill tears in frantic torrents, rippling the heart strings.
Once again Stilleklang has created a beautifully elaborate musical experience that’s haunting and spellbinding, but also emotionally turbulent and harrowing, perfect for the long gray days ahead of us and all the long gray days behind.
Tränen der Vergangenheit Part 2 was produced by Patrick Urban (Dämmerfarben, Dystertid and Panopticon, among others), with mastering by Spenser Morris (Saor, Grift, among others) and beautifully complementary cover art by Markus Röll.
It will be co-released on November 29th by the German labels Crawling Chaos and Schattenpfade, as a limited-edition digisleeve CD and digitally.
For more info about the release and how to acquire it, keep an eye on the locations linked below.
CRAWLING CHAOS:
https://www.thecrawlingchaos-records.de/
https://thecrawlingchaosrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/crawling_chaos_records/
https://www.facebook.com/thecrawlingchaosrecords/
SCHATTENPFADE:
https://www.schattenpfade.de/
https://www.facebook.com/schattenpfade
https://www.instagram.com/schattenpfade_metal_label/
STILLEKLANG:
https://www.facebook.com/Stilleklang
https://www.instagram.com/stilleklang_official/
https://stilleklang.bandcamp.com/