Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Ungfell - Es grauet (2021)
Despite a poor start, Es grauet is an interesting and varied record, certainly within the boundaries of black metal. The less-than-ideal opening to the album just seems to be a poorly framed intro that is perhaps essential to the concept but does appear to set off on a rampant and melodic tone that then seems to be reset ahead of the first track (proper) only to soon start all over again.
In what I can only describe as a mix of folk-influenced black metal coupled with some traditional metal elements not unlike Malokarpatan (for example), Es grauet is the third full-length album from the Swiss duo. Deploying a range of conventional metal instruments alongside accordions, yodelling and a cello sounds like a recipe for disaster I grant you, however the dramatic yet never over the top vocal performance actually increases the entertainment value and underlines the conceptual value of the album perfectly. These “zany” elements all combine to deliver a lush sense of theatre without the album slipping into amateur-dramatics territory.
The overtly warm production values accentuate the story telling elements superbly and the instrumentation is dynamic when it comes to adding to the emotion, drama or atmosphere of key parts of the record. Granted, you are talking a good few listens before all of this truly clicks – certainly I am at listen number 7 or 8 as I write this review and Es grauet is anything but immediate. However, what it lacks in initial accessibility it more than makes up for in terms of the reward for the effort of spending quality time with it. There is no denying that even in the acoustic moments the energy level is a high still as the levels of enchantment in such passages.
As with all concept albums (or at least my experience of most) things do feel a little bit clunky in terms of the overall composition and given that I have no idea what the story is the sense of being a bit lost does occur more than once. That being said I can more than forgive this when I look at the quality of the album overall and I will admit to now needing to place this higher in my AOTY list for black metal than I first expected it to be located. It is as eccentric as the album artwork suggests it will be, yet it is also equally as colourful as Robbie C. Ward's painting hints it as being.