Country: Germany
"PORTA NIGRA"!! Is the battle cry of these three Teutonic knights, whose sound attack is still unheard-of! "Schopfungswut" is their third full length, and it is the result both of the evolution of the main duo of the band, as much as the revolution of the line-up, enriched by the addition of the voice of Tongue, already active as singer and guitarist of the German band Chaos Invocation.
The starting guitar riff of "Die Kosmiker", endearing yet very violent, soon shows the intentions of the band, which offer to us a typical '90s Black Metal marked by their high level compositional skills. A clear example is "Das Rad des Ixion", where we can find guitar riffs and drum tempos in the vein of Darkthrone, but the vocals remind pretty much of Rammstein. Both the sounds and the performance of the players in each track are very high quality, guitars create black-hearted and decadent atmospheres and everything is supported by a solid drumming, which is exalted by the excellent production of Markus Stock!!
Vocals is the strong point of this album, and the choice to sing in German gives to the whole work a gloomy and powerful feeling. Tongue is a very versatile singer, able to play in the best way every facet of each track; evocative in acted parts, sulphuric in the scream, solemn in mantric moments.
I had the privilege to listen to one of the loftiest albums released in 2020, granitic and powerful like the monument where the band's name comes from, and it is the perfect soundtrack for the 21st century's "Sturm und Drang".
Hails to Porta Nigra!!
