Copyright © 2005 Agonia
1. Stormfront
2. Strong Arm Faction
3. Zerstorer
4. Wolves Of Flame And Shadow
5. Iron Law: Iron Will
6. Conflagration Total War
7. Putrid Stigmata
8. Bacillus Satanas
9. Kommand
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Although this record claims to be a fusion of black metal and industrial, it's more accurate to say that it is a compilation of fragments of styles centered around a mood, which is the tight-lipped and resolute desire to purge this world of its human excess and incompetence. If you look out at society and are dismayed by the "low biological quality of humankind," as Pentti Linkola would say, this soundtrack designed for shaping an iron will toward dispassionate cruelty will delight you. Unlike the vast horde of late-model black metal, this CD liberates itself from the idea of fast and simple as an aesthetic, and building on Helmkamp's previous band, Angelcorpse, has plenty of violent riffing but carefully places it amongst ruins of an emotional context. Songs carefully shape themselves around a drone, moving between the darkest passages of dirge doom metal in the style of [ Sunn)))0 ] - a steadily building churning emptiness, and the detached energetic riffs of world-hating hardcore bands. Inevitably, comparisons will be made to Zyklon-B and Absurd, as the same combination of mechanical percussion and music bending three notes into an enigmatic pulse persists, but there is an element in here last heard in Godflesh: a building sense of dread and lasting misanthropy, although there's less rage here as much as the stage after rage, in which loins are girded for an emotionless cleanup. Where this band distinguishes itself most is in the use of careful harmony in layers much as the best of darkwave had, producing a mood of morbidity and longing. This sensation balances the stoic homicidal urges expressed by riffs floating between fast and mid-paced tempos, giving depth to the music and allowing it to be ambient as distorted voices and mechanical noises drift through a filter of noise and surprising melodic hooks. The gestures of black metal toward grandeur are here as well, but in the sense of someone standing among ruins waiting for combat without distracting thoughts; it is conviction, doubtless aggression, and an emotion of realizations long past put into action without feeling or concern for self. Lyrics concern the need to purge humanity of its bloat through warfare and unending destruction, so it's the perfect album for driving through a plastic-fetter concrete metropolis. Of the recent items to come through the black metal filter, most are imitating the past and thus lack the clear sight of its own concept that Feldgrau exudes, rendering an album that in concept and sound conveys the mentality of its creators.
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