Artist: Nebelfaust
Country: Germany
Label: Self-released
Formats: Digital
Year: 2025
Nebelfaust is the brain child and solo act of German multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Zinkruwahn, who formed the band some years ago. That resulted in the band’s first demo ‘Finsternisse’, which was released as a digital release midway 2024. As it turns out, that demo was only an appetizer for the first full album of the band, which was released a month ago and has been titled ‘Das kalte Eisen des Mondes’.
As Zinkruwahn describes it himself, the band is meant as a descendant of 90’s Northern Black Metal, influenced by early Gorgoroth, Emperor, Ulver, Kvist and a dash of his own madness. And upon listening to the record, there is certainly plenty to be said for that. The cold Black Metal presented on ‘Das kalte Eisen des Mondes’ certainly harkens back to the early 90’s, and the spirit of Gorgoroth and Kvist in undeniably there. Furthermore, I hear paralels with Darkthrone and Dødheimsgard, and if we pull things into a slightly more recent context, Taake. It takes some deeper digging into the songs to hear some Emperor riffs, as they’re not nearly as literal as the aforementioned influences. That is even more true for Ulver connections, although admittedly their presence was felt stronger on the preceding demo ‘Finsternisse’.
As you can derive from their influences, Nebelfaust approaches its Black Metal in a very riff-driven manner. It takes those typical riffs of Gorgoroth with more of Kvist’s melody, and has the slightly more adventurous spirit of Taake. This mostly manifests in a versatile record with rich song structures where the riffs are dynamic yet the themes are recognizable and in a sense, catchy and somewhat epic. The drums are often blistering, which are slightly more militant in approach, but also employed well to build a sense of threat in the calmer sections. The vocals are coarse and harsh, with an almost commanding tone and are sometimes alternated with inhaling hisses in a manner done by for instance the American band The Haunting Presence. Another typical element of that early Norwegian scene that Nebelfaust incorporates is the rich bass sound, where it’s clear that the instrument has been given its own identity. And perhaps that last word is noteworthy here.
Zinkruwahn does not hide that the Norwegian scene has shaped his view on Black Metal. That makes the cold, pulsating and riff-based music on ‘Das kalte Eisen des Mondes’ instantly recognizable. But Nebelfaust also has some personal identity, like an obscured solo that develops to a more overt lead in ‘Die Tore sind zum Winter aufgerissen’. The biggest achievement however is simply the quality of the riffs and the songwriting. The tremolo picking and tapping is catchy, cold and diverse, but never goes out of bounds. While I personally find later Taake to be too frivolous, Nebelfaust restrains it much more successfully, proving a dynamic and rewarding experience that always manages to the song structure in mind.
Perhaps only the slightly more modern (or less raw) sound gives away that this isn’t an obscure record from the 90’s. Other than that, Nebelfaust expertly combines the authentic sound of early Gorgoroth, Dødheimsgard, Kvist and Taake on ‘Das kalte Eisen des Mondes’. Simply an excellent debut record that comes recommended to old school Norwegian Black Metal fanatics!
