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Schwarzer Engel - Träume Einer Nacht review



Reviewer:
7.2

2 users:
8.5
Band: Schwarzer Engel
Album: Träume Einer Nacht
Release date: 2011


01. In Tiefster Nacht
02. Geister Und Dämonen
03. Fieber Im Blut
04. Halb-Gott
05. In Zwei Geteilt
06. Sonnenanbeterin
07. Lebendig Begraben
08. Königin Der Nacht
09. Tanzende Schatten
10. Finsternis Über Dem Land
11. Traum Einer Nacht
12. Vom Galgen Tönt Die Krähe
13. Wiegenlied

Schwarzer Engel, as the name indicates, come from Germany and one could easily predict that they're a gothic metal band, which is true. They've been around for 4 years and their first EP saw the light of day during 2010, the same year Apokalypse (debut) came out as well and now the time has come for their sophomore work, Träume Einer Nacht. In one hand, the cover artwork is once again centered around their main man, Dave Jason, quite cliché dare I say and allegedly dark just for the sake of it. To some people it will appeal, it's just that, it didn't succeed to my eyes.

On the other hand, the music is more rewarding. Imagine slight references to London After Midnight, Gothminister touches and a "light"-sounding The Vision Bleak/ Crematory aesthetic in a heavy enough environment. There are many native speaking German bands around, so if you really like the pompous and at the same time poetic accent of this beautiful language in terms of gothic metal, then another band in this scheme wouldn't really hurt, on the contrary.

Dave Jason's vocals and the orchestrations have to be the main core of ambiance in here. He possesses the renowned semi-baritone "gothic" air (somewhere between Allen B. Konstanz [ The Vision Bleak], Christ Pohl [ Blutengel] and Till Lindermann [ Rammstein]), sounding a bit more fragile or harsher respectively at times. As for the keyboards, they perform a wonderful atmosphere-evoking role, floating all over the place like a threat or thin mist, surrounding the listener in their very own crystal clear cage. The production is good but emphasizes a bit upon the vocals/keyboards duo, placing a bit in the background the heavily distorted guitars, without burying them though. As for the drumming, it may be programmed, it may not, but it's pretty good and lends groove in the compositions.

In general, if you're into Teutonic gothic metal (German-speaking with "vulgar" gentleness) then you should give Schwarzer Engel a try. After all Träume Einer Nacht is pretty decent in everything it has to say, even though it has nothing new to offer in terms of innovation etc.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 6
Production: 8





Written on 27.06.2011 by "It is myself I have never met, whose face is pasted on the underside of my mind."


Comments

Comments: 4   Visited by: 130 users
27.06.2011 - 21:08
Windrider
Raureif
Sounds nice, well explained, gotta check this out!
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28.06.2011 - 18:43
Myndflyte

Nicely explained. Based on their samples I may need to check them out.
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28.06.2011 - 22:08
hailthecrisis

Gave them a quick listen, sounded decent. Gonna spin the album shortly.
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29.09.2011 - 03:28
Jason W.
Razorbliss
I really like the synths in this album, and yes you are right, the vocals are that classic male gothic sound that is so easily recognizeable. I prefer the style he uses in "Geister Und Dämonen" in the main chorus to anything else on the album, though, so in reality I really only like that song overall. The synths kept me interested to listen to most of the album enjoyably, but anytime it became too aggressive with the guitar or drums, I was mostly only passively listening. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, I'll definitely be following his future work
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"After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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