Nargaroth - Black Metal ist Krieg

Nargaroth, also known as the Satanic Warmaster of Germany. Or is Satanic Warmaster the Nargaroth of Finland? Or are they both the non-Norwegian Satyricons?

Released in 2001, Nargaroth's second full-length album Black Metal ist Krieg came as a direct result of Kanwulf's total worship of the northern black metal sound. Now, contrary to what you might read on Metalious.com - where its score is a scornful 0% - Black Metal ist Krieg isn't a bad album, it's just that Kanwulf's tribute to the Norse sound suffers from extremely sloppy songwriting. As in, repeating the same riff, without the slightest bit of variation, for over five minutes - as with the title track.

This, I believe, stems from Kanwulf's misunderstanding of Norwegian black metal minimalism, best incarnated by bands such as Burzum and Darkthrone. Monkey see, monkey do. After all, this is a tribute album, so it couldn't be otherwise. Kanwulf sees Burzum and Darkthrone repeating the same riff for five minutes, so Kanwulf repeats the same riff for five minutes. But do Burzum and Darkthrone REALLY repeat the same riff for five minutes, or do they only give the IMPRESSION of doing so, to the inattentive listener? That's what separates Nargaroth from the band it pays homage to, the subtle songwriting skills that make Burzum's Hvis Lyset Tar Oss and Neraines' Yggdrasil seem like 'simple' music, when in fact they are incredibly complex masterpieces of genius composition and unparalleled songcraft.

Other than that, while Kanwulf has some interesting ideas which appear here and there on Black Metal ist Krieg, these aren't nearly present enough to make this album rank amongst the greats it imitates.

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