Nagelfar - Srontgorrth review
| Band: | Nagelfar |
| Album: | Srontgorrth |
| Style: | Black metal |
| Release date: | June 09, 1999 |
| A review by: | Lucas |
Disc I
01. Kapitel Eins (Der Frühling) - Als Die Tore Sich Öffnen...
02. Kapitel Zwei (Der Sommer) - Die Existenz Jenseits Der Tore
03. Kapitel Drei (Der Herbst) - Endzeit
04. Kapitel Vier (Der Winter) - Trümmer
05. Kapitel Fünf - Willkommen Zu Haus...
Disc II [Reissued Bonus CD]
01. Kapitel Eins (Der Frühling) - Als Die Tore Sich Öffnen... [demo]
02. Kapitel Zwei (Der Sommer) - Die Existenz Jenseits Der Tore [demo]
03. Kapitel Drei (Der Herbst) - Endzeit [demo]
04. Fragmente Einer Chronik
One of my favourite and in my opinion, one of the most underrated albums of our time, is the grand opus "Srontgorrth", by the German Nagelfar. Perhaps it is due to the bankrupt label Kettenhund Records and its almost impossibility to find nowadays, that it is not constantly praised and hailed by the scene. For the music is truly awesome.
Zorn's guitarwork is absolutely amazing. His ecstatic, bloodrushing riffs are what most Viking metal bands lack: thrilling and exciting. The jaw-droppingly diverse vocals of Jander are warm one moment, and despairing the next, containing a bulk of emotion that neither Anathema nor Katatonia possess. Combined with my love for the german language, this creates some of my favourite vocal moments ever. The immortal screams in "Willkommen Zu Haus", anyone?
But there is more besides Black Metal. After the first and the second song, weird electronica rears its ugly head. Think Ulver's "Perdition City", but without Garm's warm vocals and a more apocalyptic feel to it. Some might hate it, others, such as me, love it.
Without a doubt this is the highlight of Nagelfar's career. The predecessor, "Hünengraben Im Herbst", showed the incredibly potential of the band but just didn't hit the right spot. And "Virus West", the only easily obtainable album of theirs nowadays, just doesn't have it with a different vocalist.
In the end, "Srontgorrth" proves to be a surprising and diverse album. There is a great deal of talent on this album, and eventhough this band ceased to exist, that talent lives on in other great projects (Von Meinenwald's "The Ruins Of Beverast"). While all these other projects are definitely worthwhile, we must not forget the first exposure of these talents.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 10 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 9 |
 | Written on 07.02.2008 by If you're interested in extreme, often emotional and underground music, check out my reviews. I retired from reviewing, but I really used to be into that stuff. |
Comments
Comments: 17
Visited by: 177 users
| Maxx666 Meshuggahian Posts: 376  |
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| Mikrokosmos Account deleted |
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Elite Posts: 13427  |
Written by [user id=109376] on 13.04.2011 at 03:16 What exactly do you mean? This was their second album, released in '99... ?
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?  "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| Mikrokosmos Account deleted |
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Elite Posts: 13427 |
Written by [user id=109376] on 14.04.2011 at 00:20 Ah yeah I remember such a thing, yes. Been a while since I've heard the first. Could very well be.
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what? "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| ₣rost Giant Posts: 35  |
Written by [user id=109376] on 14.04.2011 at 00:20 Those songs are re-imagined versions of the original songs of Hunengrab. This is why the band doesn't really consider this to be the second album because its really a new spin on material already done. They consider Virus West to be their second album.
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254  |
This is a fantastic album... Do they have others of a similar level?
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Elite Posts: 13427 |
Written by Baz Anderson on 23.12.2011 at 19:15 You should check out this album's predecessor, as Joe said. I personally don't consider it better, but it's definitely a great album. The third album, Virus West, is also a great album. Definitely not on par with this one, a little different too, but a great release nonetheless.
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what? "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| Promonex Cathemeral Elite Posts: 9720  |
Written by Baz Anderson on 23.12.2011 at 19:15 Track 3 of this album is actually track 6 of the predecessor, so yeah, Hünengrab im Herbst is definitely the foundation for this album. Which doesn't make Hünengrab as brilliant as everybody makes it out to be, in my humble opinion. I personally haven't come across anything like Srontgorrth so far. But you might want to check out Truppensturm, another German black metal band with Nagelfar's drummer Alexander von Meilenwald (who's also the guy behind The Ruins Of Beverast), even though it's a lot rawer.
---- All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu... This is the truth! This is my belief! ...At least for now. - The Mystery of Life, Vol. 841 Ch. 26
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254 |
Ok, cool! Thanks guys, I'll have to try these out properly...
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| Oaken Hipster Posts: 1322  |
One of the catchiest black metal ever written. That riff in Kapitel I that gets repeated throughout the album is crushing.
---- In that case, man is only air as well.
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6099  |
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| Promonex Cathemeral Elite Posts: 9720 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 16.05.2012 at 15:02 Mind continuing this discussion in the German black metal thread? I'd love to counter with some Nocte Obducta, but don't want to go too off-topic 
---- All life begins with Nu and ends with Nu... This is the truth! This is my belief! ...At least for now. - The Mystery of Life, Vol. 841 Ch. 26
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| Dr. Strawberry Posts: 698  |
Written by Promonex on 25.12.2011 at 06:02 Thanks for your recommendations, I just listened to Truppensturm's debut. it's really a good and underrated Black Death band. Full of Bolt Thrower's riffs infused with Black elements, this style is really rare and unique. Unfortunately it's too short to be called a full-length, the minimum requirement is 25 mins, althought many studio albums out there were called full-length if not less than 23:00 mins but it usually may raise some eye brows. Btw, their following release, Salute to the Iron Emperors is just a waste of time.
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62002  |
I have to agree about electronica, that was weird but I would say maybe best BM band what cames from Germany.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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