Gràb - Kremess (2025)^{Release ID: 57986}

I was around some thirty albums into a black metal in 2025 discovery trip this week and if I am honest, I was starting to despair. Other than a couple of brief glimmers of hope which I will save the detail of for some further reviews, I was starting to think that 2025 was going to be a barren year. Now, there are a couple of caveats to that initial view, the first being that in general I make no effort to stay on top of new releases. Secondly, I am solely going off the new bm releases added to MA, so there will inevitably be gaps at whatever point of the year I bother to look since we cannot possibly capture all releases in these output trigger happy days that we live in. Anyway, after sitting through two of Drowning the Light’s five albums they have released so far this year, and wondering why the hell I was bothering, I finally landed on German duo, Gràb (German for “grey/old”).

I have listened to a lot of black metal over the years and the albums that I hold in high regard all exude passion for their artform. In a sub-genre that champions the minimalist approach it is easy to become lost in a sea of raw, primitive and yet utterly emotionless music. There is absolutely a time and place for that, however with where I am at in my bm musings nowadays I like to hear some heart in what I am listening to. Luckily for me, Gràb are full of passion for what they do. Yes, the melodicism helps no end here. That smattering of doomy atmosphere also does much to enhance the experience. But at the very core of Kremess is the undeniable presence of musicians revelling in what they love doing and in turn letting the listener revel in the majesty of the music they produce.

The Bavarian lyrics may be completely undecipherable to me, but it does not matter one bit. I feel I can still connect with the whole experience of Kremess regardless. There is a lot going on instrumentally here as well. With viola, flute and dulcimer all being deployed alongside keyboards, guitar, bass and drums, Kremess offers a real gamut of instrumentation. Yet nothing is ever allowed to override the core bm offering of the band’s sound. As eclectic as some of the instrument choices may seem, they are cleverly deployed and incorporated into the overall aesthetic. Gràb know how to write songs, and it shows in abundance here.

Produced by Empyrium’s Markus Stock, the members of Empyrium contribute light touches to parts of the album. The choral elements Thomas Helm adds on Im Hexnhoiz (A Weihraz-Gschicht, Kapitel Oans) and Deifeszeig add real depth to both tracks with the former being one of the standout moments on the album for me. It would be easy to get fooled by the slightly amateur (yet still somehow charming) artwork on the album cover that this is a base bm record that will be full icy atmospherics, and do not get me wrong, they are there. However, Kremess possesses a majesty to the grim musings that make up the eight tracks on offer. My initial fear that it was too long at fifty-five minutes was soon dispelled as the arrangement of the album is just as top notch as the content.

Triumphs such as Vom Gråb im Moos (A Weihraz-Gschicht, Kapitel Zwoa) at the midway point of the record and on album closer Dà letzte Winter, make the duration seem more than worth it. This record ends as strong as it starts, something which I rarely feel listening to new music nowadays. Hands down the best release of 2025 so far, Kremess restores my faith in black metal amidst the slew of gazey, avant garde releases (who needs samba black metal??) that was starting to seem the norm so far this year. It does of course also set the bar high from here on in.