Artist: Mystic Circle
Country: Germany
Label: Rock Of Angels
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2025
Over the past few years German Black Metal outlaws Mystic Circle has been on a quest for rehabilitation. Not only with rapidly releasing two new albums in 2022 and 2023, but also with revisiting their back catalogue. In this mission the band presented 1998’s ‘Dragenblut’ and ‘Infernal Satanic Verses’ from 1999 in remastered form on vinyl. So with those two most archetypal records done, the wait was for the band’s debut 1997 debut ‘Morgenröte (Der Schrei Nach Finsternis)’, an album that is both loved and hated for the same reason: the stereotypes that are piled on very heavily. Yet, I am personally eagerly awaiting that release as, in all fairness, the reissues of the aforementioned second and third album did do quite some justice to these recordings, so I am more than curious how that maligned album sounds in a more modern guise.
Yet, the band chose to first put forward the ‘Kriegsgötter II’ EP, originally released in 2000 by Last Episode. Maybe not the most logical choice, as even upon its initial release, the overall consensus was that it was not the most necessary release. But, on the other hand, taking up this one first and not giving any shit about what other thing or expect, is pretty much in the right Mystic Circle tradition.
So, here we go, ‘Kriegsgötter II’. As the title suggests, there was a release called ‘Kriegsgötter’ before: the band’s debut 7” single from 1996 went by this name and originally contained two tracks of which the B-side found its way in a revised form to the original ‘Kriegsgötter II’ EP. The rest of the EP is filled with covers of Bathory (‘One Rode To Asa Bay’) and Celtic Frost (‘Circle Of The Tyrants’, recorded live) as well as a medley of Acheron and an ambient/neo-classical little trifle. This 2025-edition is further embellished with another two covers from Iron Maiden (‘Afraid To Shoot Strangers’) and Possessed (‘Death Metal’) as well as a classical rendition of the Lost Boys theme.
At the time of its original release, I remember people being baffled about the impertinence and insolence of the band. How dare they tread this sacred musical ground and defile Bathory with their unworthy Black Metal? A little less fuzz was made about the Acheron medley, as Acheron wasn’t a much regarded band back in those years anyway. Anno 2025 we can either conclude that Mystic Circle knew their classics or just chose those to score some extra underground points. Regardless, when trying to be a subjective, both covers are rather well-done, with ironically the Bathory one even being the best. And the same can be said about the newly recorded Iron Maiden cover, that has Sarah Jezebel Deva doing guest vocals, just like she did on the Bathory cover. Personally I am less enamored by the band’s take on the Possessed track, but as a whole I think Mystic Circle has done far less badly than people thought in the late ’90s and early ’00s, at least they have proven to be excellent musicians as they have no problem with any of the leads, vocals or change in pace and rhythms of the original songs. So, that is one myth busted. Another one that I think can be considered wrecked is that these guys are genuine fans of Extreme Metal, all these years later I think they have indeed deserved a bit of rehabilitation. Whether or not ‘Kriegsgötter II’ is worth your money, however, is up to you. Personally I did not regret picking this one up, but I am still waiting for the renewed edition of ‘Morgenröte (Der Schrei Nach Finsternis)’.
