Artist: Ungfell
Country: Switzerland
Label: Eisenwald
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2024
In recent years the phenomenon of Ungfell has been all over the place if you are into folky and creative Black Metal. With their splendid sense for dramatique and folkish melodicism they duo has cranked out three records that all are highly regarded by the fans on this specific niche of the music. It was no surprise that Eisenwald (Tonschmiede) quickly capitalized on the band’s rising and took them under their wing. So, with every new album of the Swiss duo there are many people eagerly awaiting what they have come up with this time.
Just as with the majority of what the band presented us before, this new album too is reflecting the historical and cultural background of the Alpine life. ‘De Ghörnt’ is a folk story concerning the arrogance of an overly ambitious hunter who meets his demise at the hands of the Rollibock (see the album’s cover), a goat-like god who protects the Great Aletsch Glacier in the Alps.
A great story that deserves an equally grand musical drapery. And that is what it got. With delving even further into the realm of folk-tinged melodic Black Metal, the band clearly went to find a broader range of influences to paint their canvas with. The basics of what can best be described as a mix between Windir, Horn and early Stille Volk is still there, but the catchy folk melodies take over even more than ever before. Consequently, the level of “real” Black Metal is declining and apparently traded for that Horn-like epic metal. That doesn’t mean that there is nothing here to enjoy for the average Black Metal fan, but it must be said that it does become increasingly difficult to appreciate Ungfell when “real” Black Metal rules your world. In some songs, all that remains are the rough vocals that recall the band’s more Black Metal background.
Besides all the acoustics and other medieval/folk-fueled song writing, ‘De Ghörnt’ clearly also ventures more strongly into classic Heavy Metal. I wouldn’t claim anything near the punkish NWOBHM or the more epic and evil sounding Mercyful Fate-sort of Heavy Metal, but definitely there is a more palpable traditional kind of song writing at the cradle of this album. Something that blends well with the generally already quite epic music, in which not even a sporadic Hardrock solo seems out of place.
While ‘De Ghörnt’ might go down as hot cakes with the seasoned Ungfell fans, who grew along with the evolving of the band, I guess this is an album that gets significantly less well-received by “the rest of them”. But regardless of which group of the family you count yourself to, I don’t think anyone will characterize ‘De Ghörnt’ as Ungfell’s strongest album. Still, this solid but not overwhelming album scores a firm thumbs up.
