Verheerer - Urgewalt

 Verheerer is a black metal band from Germany, who formed in 2008.  Their latest release, “Urgewalt,” is their third full-length album; they have also released an EP and a live album.

This is a very interesting album because it’s quite dynamic.  It’s extreme, no doubt about it—a black metal foundation with death and even heavy metal thrown in for good measure.  But the degrees in which they handle the theme of the album–humanity’s will to destroy, even at the cost of itself,  are as varied as the ways in which humans seek to hurt others and ourselves.  

It handles all kinds of tempos—fast, slow, mid-paced and everything in between.  It’s riff based yet melodic when needed.  Oftentimes it is cold and bleak as death itself but other times it’s so vicious and bombastic that I thought my headphones were going to pop off my head. 

In essence, “Urgewalt,” is an album that mixes things up and does it well—never missing a beat, never sounding disjointed or coming off as meandering. 

The brief intro drops bombs (literally) as the guitars wind up and release just a few seconds into the first full song, which is the self-titled track.  This one is an absolute banger!  It has an unique atmosphere, offering a feverish energy against a sullen atmosphere. The bass gallops along nicely, never getting buried under the chaos.  The riffs soon speed up, becoming quite pervasive. One of the best aspects of the song, and the album as a whole, is the lead guitar’s ability to offer a countermeasure to riffs that constantly keep everything absolutely maddening. 

About halfway, the band’s traditional metal influences shine through with kick ass riffs and a blazing guitar solo. The last few minutes feel like the song is about to explode, the band barely able to contain their sound from escaping and burning down my ears.

The drums that open “Grabenwurm,” grab me immediately and send me right into the groovy riffs and fantastic vocals—definitely the style I like best, not overly high pitched nor too deep.  The song is balanced as well, settling into a steady groove for the first half while letting the bass and drums shine the entire way.  I love how well the instruments work together across the album and it's extremely potent in this song.

The middle portion is emotional as hell, especially with the bouncing bass and melodic guitar. This passage flows very naturally before the song has a sudden tempo change, like a fire suddenly caught by the wind and pushed into an inferno.

“Lungs,” is one of the shorter songs on the album but that doesn't let it stop it from providing searing black metal—-one of the more straightforward, aggressive songs here. The drums are speedy but also very catchy, no easy feat for music of this nature.  The vocals surge against the riff, rising above the noise and slamming back down like a guillotine.  The last minute or so is pushed too new levels of frantic energy due to the insane spastic guitar.

The final song, “Kriegstreiber,” is my favorite on the album.  It has an ominous sound, very doom-like, but it’s melodic enough to grab me.  The drums are MASSIVE; one hell of a performance that goes for broke.   The slower tempo gives way to a burst of speed before mid tempo grooves and clean dissonance take over—within the first four minutes, the song has changed mood and approach several times while still sounding cohesive.  The final part of the song is atmospheric with a nice little twist that brings out subtle melodies and clean vocals.  The ending is tragic, spoken word and clean keys adding a touch of sorrow that fades the album out into nothing.

Verheerer’s “Urgewalt,” is a very impressive album that offers a lot of engaging moments and an outside the box approach to the extreme metal genre that exudes confidence among stellar songwriting and compositional skills. 

Rating:  Excellent