{"id":30790,"date":"2015-04-24T00:00:41","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T00:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=30790"},"modified":"2015-06-09T00:42:43","modified_gmt":"2015-06-09T00:42:43","slug":"album-review-schwarzer-engel-imperium-i-im-reich-der-gotter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-schwarzer-engel-imperium-i-im-reich-der-gotter\/","title":{"rendered":"SCHWARZER ENGEL – Imperium I: Im Reich Der G\u00f6tter (2015) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCHWARZER ENGEL
Imperium I: Im Reich Der G\u00f6tter<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nMassacre (2015)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

With a moniker that translates as \u201cblack angel\u201d, Schwarzer Engel is one of those intriguing \u201cdark metal\u201d acts of contemporary design. The sound and vision all comes from one man, a Mr. Dave Jason. Although his name doesn\u2019t suggest it, Schwarzer Engel is a Gothic affair borne out from Stuttgart in Germany.<\/p>\n

Imperium I: Im Reich Der G\u00f6tter<\/em> is the band\u2019s fourth full-length instalment, which isn\u2019t bad going considering their formation was in 2007. Imperium I<\/em> comes as a nice surprise, considering I\u2019m not normally a big fan of this sort of rock. <\/p>\n

This latest album is an 11-track, 43-minute affair (12 tracks if you purchase the digipak version), but an opus that actually sounds far longer due to its engrossing nature and varying layers. There\u2019s no questioning Jason\u2019s abilities as he takes us down a dimly light path of well-orchestrated and extravagant structures, beginning with the atmospheric strains of \u2018G\u00f6tterd\u00e4mmerung\u2019 which is a mere soundtrack introduction before the grandiose statements of \u2018Gott vs. Satan\u2019. <\/p>\n

What we get here is a slightly industrialised metallic tumult featuring brisk beats, thrashing energy and ghoulish complexity. There are added synths for added atmosphere, and brooding slower passages where the vocals vary from a snarl to deeper, deathlier grunts and muffled bellows. In a sense, \u2018Gott vs. Satan\u2019 reminds me of an industrial band meddling with metal, so fans of the likes of Rammstein will no doubt enjoy this sort of melodramatic meandering. <\/p>\n

My only complaint here is that the lyrics are all in German, so one then struggles to get to grips with the full-bloodied Gothic nature. That aside, the album continues to mesmerise, offering up a series of Gothic landscapes and darkly adorned mechanics where commanding, booming melody is fused with faster, aggressive and yet always well-controlled nuances.<\/p>\n

\u2018Herrscher Der Nacht\u2019 is certainly Schwarzer Engel at its most melodic, the vocals a clearer, punchy narration while \u2018Schwarzkunst\u2019 offers great horror-styled suspense. In fact, I\u2019m reminded of experimental industrialist Swamp Terrorists at times, but that\u2019s probably down to the dramatic mechanics and vocal snarls. It\u2019s certainly a dark, theatrical fair from beginning to end, the best of the tracks being the speedy \u2018Ritt Der Toten\u2019 with its traditional rock guitar and eerie symphonies, although I\u2019m less convinced by those clearer vocal introductions.<\/p>\n

\u2018Du\u2019 is a tad tepid for my liking albeit accessible in its melody, but one cannot ignore the industrialised punch of \u2018Meine Liebe\u2019 with its catchy jab or the closing hastiness of \u2018Im Herzen Wohnt Die Trauer\u2019, which exhibits some fantastic guitar work. <\/p>\n

Imperium I: Im Reich Der G\u00f6tter<\/em> is at times a strange brew, even if it rarely varies into creepier territory. Where I\u2019ve grown up on a diet of the aforementioned Swamp Terrorists and the likes of Laibach, Schwarzer Engel uses those aesthetics but places itself alongside more metallic and symphonic metal meddling while also appealing to those with an ear for industrialised dramatics.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCHWARZER ENGELImperium I: Im Reich Der G\u00f6tter Massacre (2015)Rating: 7\/10 With a moniker that translates as \u201cblack angel\u201d, Schwarzer Engel is one of those intriguing \u201cdark metal\u201d acts of contemporary design. The sound and vision all comes from one man, a Mr. Dave Jason. Although his name doesn\u2019t suggest it, Schwarzer Engel is a Gothic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,2184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-schwarzer-engel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30790"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30795,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30790\/revisions\/30795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}