Fluisteraars - De kronieken van het verdwenen kasteel III: Grunsfoort (2025)^{Release ID: 58828}

The final EP (to date) in this series ‘…:Grunsfoort’ harks back to the jangly tremolo and melodic gallop of Drudkh to kick things off this time.  Opening track ‘Sediment der Impressies’ again picks up where the previous EP left off some 18 months ago, trailing an air of accessibility and directness to its presence.  For the most part, this is a well-balanced track in terms of pace.  It measures the urgency of the tremolo with passages of thoughtful refrain and folky strings that really sound like they are grounding the track.  There is also a strong bass presence here as well which really does add depth to the slower parts.  The track does seem to lose its way about two-thirds of the way through, disappearing into an unexpected dark ambient section before racing back for the final meeting.  This feels disruptive, like they thought about ending the track there but changed their mind.

The strong, yet never intrusive bass, is retained on ‘Grunsfoort in de mist’.  Opting for a slower pace to start this time around the track also deploys acoustic strings to good effect, using them to herald the arrival of additional layers on proceedings.  This is the standout track on the release for me.  It is thoughtfully composed and builds up well.  The rich melodic aspects are never at the expense of the directness and despite the more softer approach, the band avoids ‘gaze’ territory in the main and still delivers a haunting and ethereal experience to draw the track to a close.

Whether this is the totality of the series or not, these three EPs are strong as a collective.  My criticisms are never items that necessarily diminish from my overall enjoyment of the series and they do showcase the talent, ability and influences of the duo involved here.  I would recommend playing them back to back to truly appreciate them but they do also work in isolation.