Список групп Black Metal Weltschmerz (NL) Cry for War

Is Black metal a scene that suffers from copying and recycled ideas? Of course it is, and Netherland’s Weltschmerz don’t seem to be doing much for this situation to change. On their debut EP they present four songs of traditional Black metal that follow faithfully the path created by the Scandinavian scene of the ‘90s. “Total War” starts as if Emperor forgot a demo hidden somewhere in their closet, whereas “Geschrei in der Nacht” sounds like it was born under Mayhem’s “Freezing Moon”. Oh, and Bathory’s epic moments make their presence felt throughout “Hunt for Souls”. All a listener gets from this release, is a mind-game to guess which established band has influenced each and every second of the tracks found here. –Isn’t this part similar to Marduk? –No, I think it sounds more like Enslaved’s first albums…and the conversation could go on for hours!

Not that “Cry for War” is a bad piece of work. The riffs are OK, the atmosphere they wish to create is of a standard, the arrangements of the songs don’t leave us with blank faces, and the musicianship meets the criteria of the scene. Indeed, if anyone wishes to add another CD of pure Black metal to his/her collection, won’t be disappointed. So far, so good…so what?... someone may ask. Why get this one instead of another of the countless underground “true” Black releases that grow like mushrooms around us every day? I couldn’t find an answer to this question. To their credit, their EP became more and more 'likeable' after a while and some few plays. On the other hand, this could happen to the majority of -at least average- CDs, in time.

Production-wise, the rhythm section could be stronger, especially the drumming, which sounds weak. They’re not creating a chaos or noise with their music; instead, the guitars play their riffs clearly and the final result doesn’t put off someone who approaches a band of their status. In order, though, to better that status, they’ll need to show some personal ideas and stop letting their idols to, totally, dictate their compositions.

13/20