World Terror Committee, 2017
Genre: Black Metal
1. Resurrectio mortuorum
2. Vices of the Prophet
3. De Sura Frukterna av Shalems Hus
4. Agni Kravyad
5. Der Werwolf
6. Black Dog of God
7. Hymne à la Beauté
When I saw it announced that Entartung had a new album coming, I was instantly excited. "Peccata Mortalia" has been receiving regular play in my rotation of albums. The track they debuted was "Black Dog of God" and when I listened to it on youtube, I was a little less than impressed... so I was worried the album wouldn't be very good. However, I also know that whatever youtube does to music is often bad for Black Metal, so judging a recording on that platform isn't so great. So, I bought the album anyway to see for myself.
I'm happy to report that "Baptised into the Faith of Lust" is an absolutely excellent album. One of the best released in 2017 I dare say, for me at any rate. After giving this quite a few listens at this point, I think I understand why I didn't really like the promo song. Perhaps to no fault of their own, but the lead sections of guitars is sometimes buried a little deeper in the mix than is necessary. Sure, it creates an interesting atmosphere of subtle leads... but that doesn't help the song stand out as much. When run through the youtube system, it basically gets rid of the leads quite a bit more, so the tracks don't seem as well done or as catchy, but listening to "Black Dog of God" on my own system really makes that track stand out. It is, indeed, one of the finer songs on the entire album and has some of the best riffs around!
"Baptised into the Faith of Lust" builds on the foundation of "Peccata Mortalia", but instead of staying within the realms of purely German Black Metal, I hear a bit of the Finnish end of things put into play. Granted it sounds primarily German, I just hear a bit of Sargeist styled elements show up here and there once in a while in their compositions. "Black Dog of God" basically opens with that kind of riffing, if you want to hear an example of it.
Once again, they have a beautifully designed booklet. There's only one issue I have with it, while the font choice is visually arresting and matches the layout concept very well... in terms of reading it's not so great. As with the prior album they include a background explanation for the lyrical influence of each song, but the font kind of hinders you from reading it too much. Design wise it really works though... so at least the whole booklet looks beautiful.
In the end Entartung have put together another truly excellent album and I'm looking forward to listening to it multiple times over the years. If you've been a fan of their discography so far, then this new album will certainly be no different. One of the things I like about Entartung is that they really manage to stay true to their core sound, but they don't just release the same album every time. They sort of circle around a core theme, but with different focus each time. Definitely one of the better bands to be following right now.
World Terror Committee, 2014
Genre: Black Metal
1. Der Hölle Herr
2. Blasphemaverit in Spiritum Sanctum
3. Out of Darkness into Light
4. Faith on the Scaffold
5. Cimmerian Shade
6. To Conquer Immortality in the Depths
7. The Law of the Claw
8. Yawm ad-din
After an absolutely astonishing debut album, Entartung return a couple years later with the follow-up. They build on the basics of the debut, but push their compositions deeper on this album. In addition to well thought out music, the entirety of the album seems to have a far deeper layer to it. Just looking through the booklet, each song is accompanied by a background explanation on what influenced the lyrics. It's a really great read and they really put together an excellent design of the booklet as well.
"Peccata Mortalia" like 'Krypteia" is filled with all kinds of wonderful riffing to catch our ears, but there is a level of deepness to it that was sort of missing from "Krypteia". Indeed, "Krypteia" seems a bit more primitive by comparison. The arrangements and production trend more towards the modern side of Black Metal, and even though we've lost some of the raw edge in the production everything still feels organic, so there's no over production going on here. The drums sound like drums, not clicky computers. The arrangements seem more cohesive within each song, but I do wish there were a few more of those riffs that catch your ear instantly like the opening song on "Krypteia". They are certainly still featured throughout "Peccata Mortalia", such as the chorus section of "Blasphemaverit in Spiritum Sanctum", but I think there are a few less than the debut. They've also taken to adding piano into a couple areas, mainly the intro and outro. They do an okay job with it, its short and sweet and serves well enough to introduce and close the album.
In the end this is a very excellent follow-up to their debut. Some bands languish in the glory of their debut and never quite manage to overcome it, but Entartung have done that as far as I'm concerned. While "Peccata Mortalia" isn't leaps and bounds better, it definitely builds on the ideas the project laid down and sticks to those original roots. I'm definitely interested in following this project further, especially after two great albums.
World Terror Committee, 2012
Genre: Black Metal
1. Flucht in die Finsternis
2. Der Sieg der Vergänglichkeit
3. Über die Grenzen des Todes
4. Drei Milliarden Herzschläge
5. Boreas, Gott der Nordwinde
6. Wenn die Jagd beginnt (Christenverfolgung)
I didn't discover Entartung until their second album when I was randomly buying albums from a distro. Their covers were eye catching and I tend to enjoy quite a bit of German Black Metal so I took a risk on the project and bought their first two albums. I also feel like this project came out of nowhere... the members don't seem to have been involved in other projects. There's no demo material before this. All of a sudden this band is on World Terror Committee one of the stronger Black Metal labels out there!
Regardless of the lack of history, I'm certainly glad to get my hands on this material. From the beginning of the very first riff of "Krypteia" I was immediately hooked. I knew from that moment I was in for a great album. This band basically nails everything I'm looking for in a Black Metal album. Granted its the German variant and I certainly won't complain about that, because here we have vicious rawness blended with catchy riffing blended with a cold, yet triumphant atmosphere. At times you'll hear some aspects of things like early Der Weg Einer Freiheit, but then they'll have these sections that really hook you in which remind me of bands like Schrat and Shores of Ladon. Its really an intoxicating listen, because they manage to do all that and still have the droning wall of sound sections we all love in Black Metal. If I had to level any type of criticism at this, the vocals are just okay. They fit the music well, certainly, but I've definitely heard better. Since this seems to be a two man project, I guess you just go with whoever's the best at it! Either way, they work well enough.
Entartung are obviously off to a truly stellar start... will they be able to keep it up? I absolutely hope so! I want more of this, we all need more of this out there. Anyway, if you're a fan of the modern German Black Metal sound, then this band is an absolute must hear as far as I'm concerned. This album has so much replay value for me as well and since I got it a few years ago, I still listen to it.
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