From the very off in the mid 90’s, Dornenreich have been the darlings of the Austrian blackened folk metal scene, releasing a run of albums up to the mid 10’s that fans could simply not get enough of. Seven years may have passed since ‘Freiheit’, but now the band are back with their ninth studio album ‘Du wilde Liebe sei’.
It can’t be denied that ‘Freiheit’ may have left some fans feeling a little bewildered and confused, but Dornenreich returned to the drawing board and reassessed themselves before writing ‘Du wilde…’. However, instead of the old ‘returning to our roots’ cliché, Dornenreich wheel down the avenue of experimentation; behind the stereotypical black metal sounds, ‘Du wilde…’ is a band playing with their dynamics; acoustic guitars and violins as well as the vocals of Eviga take the centre stage here, literally stealing the show and is a testament to not only the production of the record, but also the song crafting. Furthermore, ‘Du wilde…’ is not an album that can be listened to once, this is an expansive record, there is a lot of explore and even more to take in; therefore, it does have all the appeal of Empyrium, but most notably fans will be reminded of early Ulver and Agalloch, maybe even getting misty eyed in a wave of nostalgia.
‘Du wilde…’ is the sound of a band back on their game, there is a lot here to listen to but fans of this genre are more than up to that challenge.
