Source Noise metal never sounded so good as this first release by Werwolf Ensemble. Created by the mysterious duo of Robert W. (Guitar) and Marius H. (Vox, Noise and programming), this album goes beyond noise, nearly entering the ambient genre, all the while maintaining it’s doom origins. The first track "Wahrheit" is positively demonic and achieves what so many bands strive for, actually being scary. This track sounds like something that should have been played during the struggle between the possessed Regan and Father Merrick in the Exorcist. Next up is "What is Good", which begins with the cool quote about human beings being a virus from Agent Smith in the Matrix and then violently explodes in a sound experience that can only prove that nothing in life is ever good. Track three is Dem Unbekannten Gott, the title of a piece by Friedrich Nietzsche entitled The Unknown God, which exudes the power and disparity that only Nietzsche can deliver. "Nemesis", the following track, begins with tinkling of glass and metal to be followed by a grinding guitar loop and tortured vocals from the netherworld. Track five is "…And THE Stars Scream", which is not only a cool title, but this, is my favorite track. Ethereal without being gay, then detonating with such anguish, the music sounds like it should hang itself in depression. The following track is "Despair", starting out lightly, the downward spiral begins with a doom guitar riff and corkscrews further with layered vocals piled with noise. If hopelessness had a theme-song, this would be it. "Yule Horror" is a surprising piece that takes the most metal Christmas song, Carol of the Bells, and turns it into something so bleak, you would expect to see Santa floating in a blood-filled bathtub with his wrists and femoral arteries sliced open. Track eight is "Beyond Redemption", beginning with a recording of lilting vocals of a woman from long ago, absolute horror is layered over the vocals till the crushing noise takes over in elephantine proportions. The last track is Conjure, a doom invocation that can only be reserved for the Great Old One’s of Lovecraftian Mythos. While hearing this, one could imagine the Great Cthulhu slowly rising up from the depths to instantly snuff out your life, thus ending the album.
Werwolf Ensemble creates music for cultists. It is music that real Satanists listen to, not most of the unscary kabuki painted black metal that poisons the music industry today, but something that is truly black and filled with misery. This CD paints a landscape of bleakest proportions while letting the listener drift in gloomy euphoria.
I can recommend this disc to fans of noise and industrial metal, as well as folks who want something they can put on as background music without any pretentious bullshit. I look forward to future offerings from this band and if you’re looking to get a copy of this disc, the band is currently selling it on cafepress.com and can also be found on myspace as well. The more I listen to this album, the more I like it, so I’m giving it a decent grade.
A -Choppy
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