Nagelfar - Hünengrab im Herbst

German black metal horde Nagelfar has possibly got to be one of the best black metal bands ever. I just think it was to soon for the band to end I only have two releases by Nagelfar and the two albums I have are pretty much outstanding. I am going to be reviewing Nagelfar's reissue of Hünengrab im Herbst the remaster of this album is solid and perfectly clear. When I mention clear is that I can actually hear the bass rumbling in the background and the guitars give off this cold desolate atmospheric tone. There was a lot of effort and time put in the seven songs that are on Hünengrab im Herbst and the end result clearly show this. In English the title of the album translates into Dolmen In Autumn.

After the twenty-six second intro Seelenland comes through with full force the track is short and memorable, the splendid melodic atmosphere is addictive once you absorb in completely the guitar riffs are cold and sharp. The cold haunting desolate keyboard in the background is what carries the structure of the song like some sort of hook similar to the work done by German black metal band Lunar Aurora. Schwanengesang has keyboard parts that remind of something that could have easily been found on Ceremony of the Opposites by Samael. The double bass drumming of Alexander von Meilenwald rolls along during Bildnis der Apokalpse at various time during the track. Der Flug des Raben (Ein Jammerschrei in traurig' Nächten) is a fourteen-minute monster of black metal misanthropy.The track has clean mid-paced sections, blasting drums, keyboards and even clean vocals. Zingultus's vocal work possibly makes him one of the best black metal vocalist period I made this choice after listening too Hünengrab im Herbst times.

One of the main things I like about Nagelfar is their use of keyboards on their albums, which I can easily make reference to Emperor, but Nagelfar does the keyboards a bit different. The band does not go to extreme when using keyboards, they just know how to utilize them in the correct way. One problem that I had with the album is the bonus track Fressen der Raben that is included, overall it is a decent track but does not live up to the rest of the material. On a side note I would like to mention is that Hünengrab im Herbst was also released as an A5 digi-CD as well. Van Records has just recently reissued the second Nagelfar album Srontgorrth so I will be adding that to my buy list, because Nagelfar is one of those bands where every release easy to obtain by them is essential.

In German the song titles are:

1. Intro
2. Seelenland
3. Schwanengesang
4. Hünengrab im Herbst
5. Bildnis der Apokalypse
6. Srontgorrth (Das dritte Kapitel)
7. Der Flug des Raben (Ein Jammerschrei in traurig' Nächten)

The English translation for the songs on Hünengrab im Herbst are:

1. Intro
2. Land of Souls
3. Swansong
4. Dolmen in Autumn
5. Portrait of the Apocalypse
6. Srontgorrth (The Third Chapter)
7. The Flight of the Raven (A Cry of Lament in Sorrowful Nights)

Rating 9.5/10