Band:	Kermania
Album:	Ahnenwerk
Style:	Pagan black metal
Release date:	2006

01. Des Schwertes Schärfe Beichtgesang
02. Veitersberg
03. Heimatferne Rast
04. Ahnenwerk

Kermania were born in Germany in 2001 and after two demos (both of them having been released during 2002) they managed to release their debut album "Ahnenwerk" during 2006. Weigand seems to be the main figure behind Kermania and judging from their very promising and inspired debut album he definitely has a lot to offer, succeeding in presenting his ideas in a really good and representative way. Not only he's the composer of Kermania, he also performs the vocals, the guitars (both acoustic and distorted), the bass guitar and the keyboards whenever they are needed. As for the drumming he picks up a session musician for every recording of personal band.

As i said above "Ahnenwerk" is the debut album of Kermania and it consists of only four compositions, yet the album lasts about 57 minutes, obscure but true! Two of the songs of "Ahnenwerk" surpass the 20 minutes and the other two last less than seven minutes. What should someone expect from Kermania is paganistic and folk-driven black metal and, believe me, Kermania have everything it takes to have a really good course in the underground scene since the emotions and the atmosphere they evoke come straight from the heart!

The guitar work is just fabulous, either it relies on acoustic themes evoking a sense of harmony and tranquility or unleashes mid-tempo razorblade black metal riffing that falls heavily on the soul of the listener like stains of blood on the battlefield of history, evoking such overwhelming melancholy, such beauty through sorrow and death. Yet this melancholy is being enriched by an intense sense of epic emotions and nostalgia that is not afraid to turn to pure rage and war-like emotions, with the riffing becoming more up-tempo and fierce, like the change on the 19th minute of "Des Schwertes Schärfe Beichtgesang" that has a more imposing and marching approach with this aesthetic becoming more and more intense as the song goes on. Of course the vocals play a really important role on the overall atmosphere of the band, without Weigand's vocals Kermania's music would be definitely so poor! Whether he howls enthralled by sorrow/melancholy or pure rage and pain or chants the night with his expressive clean chanting vocals he dresses the music of the compositions with the ideal vocal lines to enrich them and make them more affected. Sometimes while screaming he puts so much soul in his interpretation that he seems as if he would pass away in front of the microphone, really intense and vivid vocal lines! The bass lines may not be that present (not something obscure for underground black metal releases), yet they do exist, but the drumming interprets its role really well whether it has a tempo-accompanying role or sounds hellish in really up-tempo outbursts like on the second track, "Veitersberg".

The album is really strong, it won't bore the audience of folk-driven black metal, at least i think so. I personally adored the two lengthy opuses "Des Schwertes Schärfe Beichtgesang" (especially this one) and "Heimatferne Rast" that are adorned with lyricism and nostalgic melancholy (having their more upbeat and powerful moments as well) and quite enjoyed the fiery and upbeat "Veitersberg" and the epic, uplifting and most folk-oriented composition of the album, the title-track "Ahnenwerk". The production is a bit blurry, but it makes the atmosphere more vivid in my opinion, but i tihnk the fans of this specific genre won't have so many problems with the production factor.

If you are interested in folk/pagan black metal then "Ahnenwerk" is an album you should check, it's nostalgic, epic, melancholic and without forgetting to to offer well-conceived outbursts! Kermania deserve a chance!