Krieg

The peeled nerves of honesty in dream, Krieg is an explosive mass of chaotic determination.

Krieg - The Church (2001)
Krieg - Split (2001)
Krieg - The Black Plague (2001)
Krieg - Destruction Ritual (2002)
Krieg - The Black House (2004)
Krieg - Patrick Bateman (2005)
Krieg - Sono lo Scherno (2005)

Forgotten Secrets/The Church

Krieg

2001

Production: Representative demo with strength.

Review: Insane rage of Krieg at its rawest, with no introductory material or relenting in this surprisingly melodic demonic chant metal featuring raw-throated suicidal screams that leave no flesh hanging where vocal cords once stood, demonstrates concept at a level below the conscious mind. Riffs ride a rhythm until there is dissonance in continuation and then explode into fragmentary attacks that break by theme, with each theme mirrored in riff and vocals through the replicative pairing of ideas forming the basic concept of paradox behind the song. Unexpectedly brilliant is the fusion of death metal riffs with black metal melodic drive that gives some strength to verse passages.

Tracklist:

Forgotten Secrets (2000):
1. Destruction Ritual (4:22)
2. To Wander The Stars (3:54)
3. The Ancients Dwell Underneath (4:23)
4. As Graveyard Rites...As Darkness Falls (5:38)
The Church (2001):
5. Destruction Ritual (4:44)
6. To Wander The Stars (4:23)
Length: 27:26

War the metaphor, the topic eclipses karmic interaction for broader statements of being. As an epic emptiness engulfs humanity the ideals and raw will to commit such unbalanced and direct material to digits as expressed sensu Krieg exhibit the heroic ideals of prevalence of ideal against obstacles including the tedium of musical knowledge and refinement, forming something as vital as the hardcore underground once was through generation of logic in the unthinkable and vitally alienated music that this is. While some pieces wander into Wagnerian juxtaposition collage of emotional symbols, the strength of this music is in the heartpump of throbbing dissonance in framework boundaries within song structure through tone-centric progression establishment via relevance in rhythm, a knighthood of subconscious descent beneath the conscious and its discursive storm of dead static chaos flooding us with guilt, doubt, self-reflective ego paranoia and other traits of the Judeo-Christian thought empire.

Rawness in production and explosively minimal but gracefully, connectedly vital sound, pulses in the infrastructure of conflicts that form the alleys and catacombs of a switching system, directing the flow of user attention through a framework of ideas that strike or stimulate and catch us up in their evolutionary appeal. As most American black metal degenerates into footballish Motorhead/death metal fusion bands the growth of bands such as Krieg who maintain the raw edged dedication to minimalist and alienist riffing in the style of Profanatica, Beherit or Sarcofago is fuel for further growth in blackmetal, a framework of continuation upon which some surviving clueful can also build.

Split

Genocide

2001

Production: Raw and morbidly austere.

Review:

Kult ov Azazael:
Working urgency and brief melody into a blasting death metal polemic with the forward aggression of black metal in a delivery that brings out the basic grindcore influences in underground metal, with driving scream crashing into a relapsed death metal structural crossover and then suspended, double-hit muffled gallop progression into oblivion, Kult ov Azazel grind into melody with aggression. For the most part it is reasonably convincing.

Tracklist:

Kult ov Azazel:
1. Intro (0:51)
2. In the Plagued Realm (4:52)
3. Symbionic 666 (3:47)
4. Destruction to the Throne of God (3:38)
5. Forever Heaven Gone (4:04)
Krieg:
6. Knights of the Holocaust (4:46)
7. Fallen Ones (2:19)
8. Slit Their Throats to the Spine (4:36)
9. Shadows of the Fallen Kingdom (2:36)
10. Power of Darkness (2:06)
11. Coldwindflame (4:34)
Length: 38:11

Krieg:
Majesty in churning noise of rippingly aggressive guitar strumblast and percussion dancing with the light feet of a spearman before hurling the missile of rushing musical impulse through structure on the edge of disintegration, interpreted in the aesthetic sense of underground metal from the Eastern U.S., Krieg is charging chaos which captures the grandest nihilism of black metal in spirit and undefinable "edge" qualities best cited as the inspired paranoia of improvisation. Roaring between Profanatica-styled ultra-minimalism and larger interactive structures resembling Darkthrone-styled black metal or the more advanced doom/death from North America, this band expand a lexicon of textures in shredding, decomposing, often instrumentally disintegrating expansions which conquer space and time with linear modal overlays and raw chromatic detonation soaking the entire work in the nihilistic, empty, commanding world of black metal.

The Black Plague

Warhammer

2001

Production: Genocidal backyard studio raids of varying quality.

Review: Levelled to the ground, Krieg is what occurs when humans thrust their indescribable psyche into making cryptic but resonantly familiar and natural music, creating often improvisationally to render power chords and noise into a flowing continuity of sound. In this compilation of early and eBay-inflated rarities what shows most of the Krieg mythos is its obsession with making an alienated pop music to fill the void with careless yet comprehensively synthesized sonic shapes of metaphorical and thematic significance, synergizing elements of radiant similarity to render around the listener a cloak of suspension of disbelief and all social law above primal opposition.

Tracklist:

1. The Church
2. My Wanderings Through the Ancient Mists
3. Snowfall
4. Alarum (Victory Marches Eternal)
5. Call of the Primitives/Battle At Creations End
6. An Endless Path
7. Reanimation of the Long Departed
8. The Mirror Reflects?
9. Battlegod
10. Fallen Ones
11. A Crumbling Shrine
12. Ruin under the Burning Skies
13. Maelstrom
14. Intro
15. ColdWind Flame
16. Arising Warkult
17. The Withering of Eve
18. Devil Pig (Von cover)
Length: 71:18

krieg the black plague is a collection of all early works from this groundbreaking band

Like a flaring of noise in distant catacombs the roar of guitar guides each song into its passages and intersections, suspended in the forward urgency of throatshaking drumming and achieving a momentum through connective ingenuity which deepens immersion in the symbols and fragments of mapping that Krieg use to create riff families. Themes blossom and decay amidst the constant hollow explosion muffled like the existence of humans in a technological society, allowing the voice to emerge and twist emphasis at junctures to maintain its dark aura.

Vocalizations ranging from the most civilized scream to a primitive, undogmatized shriek form the visible solidity of this music, placing complex and often improvised passages into a context of texture and tonal suggestion which anchors them and allows their developmental contributions to augment the music. Chord voicings vary to the dissonant at essential points and black metal power strum technique fuses harmony to central narrative. While interludes populate this disk, its intensity is enough to keep attention to music throughout.

As black metal was born, partly of artistic impulse of the highest intent and partly of a corrupt put-on like genre namers Venom, Krieg is a surging organic chaos of varying merits and strengths which when at full vitality spews its disgust with rancid vocals and pugilistic stringed mayhem. Its world once entered projects an epic of noble intensity rising from the mundane disorder and conflict populating the subconscious landscape of human knowledge.

Destruction Ritual

Red Stream

2002

Production: Best from Krieg so far, but still, an undiminishing blast of horrific chaotic distortion.

Review: This age with its endless stream of media and soundbites tells us of the insecurity and meaninglessness of our surroundings, yet it leaves unaddressed the question of the spirit of the individual seeking growth over the secure but suffocating modern techno-reality. From the firestorm of existential angst one might expect such parlayers of mortality to experience, the musical entity known as Krieg emerges with the most focused and listenably shaped album yet.

Where previous efforts eschewed structure for raw rhythm and texture, on this album songwriting has been trimmed to fit discernibly cyclic patterns and conclusive individual expressions tapering off into darkness of silence. Far from under control, the roaring vocals of Imperial stretch phrases and alter rhythms as pleasing the master of corruption who guides each song with a majestic sense of timbre and newly, tone. Sliding a few more notes into the range of each sentence this vocalist lashes out with horror complemented on its more irrational side by chaotic melody.

Tracklist:

1.Destruction Ritual (5:10)
2. To Wander the Stars... (4:14)
3. The Ancient Dwells Beneath (4:41)
4. As Graveyard Rites... As Darkness Falls (5:58)
5. Coldwind Flame (5:04)
6. The Immaculate Whore (4:28)
7. Suicide Amidst Katharsis (1:55)
8. A Crumbling Shrine (3:41)
9. Black Ash Snowfall (2:36)
10. Enhanced Soil Where Fierce Battles Once Raged (3:54)
11. Still Waters Shall Remain their Tombs (2:10)
Length: 43:51

krieg destruction ritual 2002 red stream

Although no edge has been lost on fiery and vengeful songs, the effect of careful shaping has produced a delivery that at first seems subtler than previous efforts, but over time reveals itself to be of a more focused dynamic to allow songs to speak for themselves. Of note for its anchoring of the musical chain is the drummer who here balances a need for numbing hypnotic consistency with a desire for variation inherent to all musicians. These songs, mostly of an older and revised nature, ratchet the mind into the morbid sense of darkness that appealed on earlier black metal, of the first album Immortal or Graveland era.

While Krieg have been active since "Rise of the Imperial Hordes" in 1997, the gnarled and morbid nature of this music in maturity has a higher density of idea and greater consequence of aesthetic, showing a band who have been stalwarts of the underground in the growth of their success. It is well-deserved as all material of this band has consistently reinforced their concept of the will unleashed, and the individual over a dying and conceptually bankrupt world. While most material in the black metal style is as of 2001 generic, Krieg remains a rare exception for the unrelenting pursuit of a certain truth with a hatred and vigor that baffles normals.

1. Deconstructing The Eternal Tombs
2. Deviant
3. Nemesis
4. Fleshprison Monolith
5. Fallen Princes Of Sightless Visions..
6. A Process Of Dying
7. Sickening Voices Without Speech
8. Ruin Under A Burning Sky
9. Without The Light
10. Murder Without The Burden Of Conscience
11. Venus In Furs (The Velvet Underground Cover)
12. Rooms
13. Coronation (LP only bonus)
Length: 41:43

The Black House (HCB, 2004)
Anytime a thought process loses its integrity, and begins to wrap itself around ideas incidental to the direction of its expression, it is lost and in the same state as black metal anno 2004: most of it has become a hash of rock riffs, hardcore riffs, and heavy metal with black metal stylings, crushing all that was vital to the genre as well as its reasons for not being that kind of crowd-pleaser. On "The Black House," Krieg skirts dangerous ground by approximating its own version of that style; while the Krieg take is more skilled than that of almost any other practicioner, it is somewhat pointless to see this band bend its independent will to the needs of the crowd. Many of the riffs here are from classic Darkthrone lexicon hybridized with the American tendency toward melodic intervals and syncopated concluding fills; some parts, including the introduction, show a nearly technical death metal level of involvement with offbeat-originated dissonant riffs. All of the technique that made blackmetal distinctive here, including Graveland-style two note diminished harmonies, but for what? Like black metal after 1994, this release is not badly nor is it badly done, but it has missed the spirit of its genre and in the view of this reviewer is thus a prison for the talents of its creators.

1. I
2. II
3. III
4. IV
5. V
Length: 14:50

Patrick Bateman (HCB, 2005)
In an age when imitators have turned three-chord rock into an aesthetically acceptable analogue for black metal music, distinctive voices are rare. From noisemasters Krieg, the latest release is a concept-based EP which resurrects the style of the earliest Krieg release, "Rise of the Imperial Hordes." At the time that first work emerged, black metal had expressed itself fully in lengthier, distinct melodies and a few bands were experimenting in making music that was fully ambient, or composed of few distinct entities but the gestalt of them taken together. Often improvisational, it escaped the increasingly technical riffs of post-black metal black metal, recognizing correctly that when the focus is transferred from the composition of the whole to its elements, artistic meaning has been replaced by musical self-indulgence. Much of this fourteen minute terror of a recording is formed of barely discernible chords layered with fast erratic bass and distortion. As waves of slumbering low-end dissonance wash over the listener the vocals guide it with a poetry of off-the-cuff rage and prophetically, a desire to avoid coherent thought, conveying mood alone. Samples from a cinematic version of the work by Bret Easton Ellis introduce concept areas, but the music makes them tangible in expression. As a result, the people who enjoy "nu-black metal" bands made of distinct recombinant riffs and clear, linear topics like "destroy all life" and "worship Satan" will be lost on this release, and it is best they avoid it. For others, it is best to appreciate "Patrick Bateman" as the background rumble of dischordant emotion birthing a lingering fragment of thought, one regarding an unformed and inexpressible animal truth lurking underneath organized human nature.

1. Seven Plagues Seven Houses
2. Knights Of The Holocaust
3. Fallen Ones
4. Slit Their Throats To The Spine
5. Hallucinations In The Withered Eden
6. Ruin Under The Burning Skies
7. Maelstrom
8. Plague Waltz
9. Power Of Darkness
10. Shadows Of The Fallen Kingdom
11. Blackash Snowfall
12. Hypnotic Decay
Length: 36:52

Sono lo Scherno (Battle Kommand, 2005)
According to the demi-legends passed around in small musical communities, this album is earlier Krieg work as originally intended by the artist, which is borne out by this tracklist including familiar favorites from the last handful of Krieg releases. As the most convincing musical document to recently emerge from this band, it shows a mastery of atmosphere that cries out to be pushed further, as it seems often Krieg creates an immersion of mood only to let it fall, like an unused sword in a hopeless conflict, where there is more to be explored and enjoyed in the fertile imagination brought on by a world with enough conflicting impetus to give space for adventure. With its citation of varied classical and ambient musics as interludes, this band does indeed create a world, one filled by its angrier moments of surging guitar riffs. Like a hybrid of Ildjarn with doom metal sped up, its riffs are mostly rhythm, often only two notes, and like Darkthrone create a mood by sustaining difference in a way that illustrates boundaries that can later be infused with twists of fate. Often, perfectly reasonable progressions explode into a turn or deviation which in the hands of a lesser band would be mirror-image irony, but here represent new spaces for a journey in the part of the soul that, not beholden to language, can express the ambiguous with a sense of expectation. This spirit emerges as much through the burrowing wall of distorted guitar as the unearthly screams and trancelike ambience, but is ultimately underdeveloped for where this band could go. Percussion admirably finds a way to both complement guitar riffs and lead on its own with a steady heartbeat of recursive snare and snickering cymbals, impressive predominantly in that it does not distract. This is the best from Krieg of recent vintage, and if this band continues, it would do well to push further in this direction.