Ewiges Reich - Zeit des Erwachens CD Review

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2004-09-04 : Kurt Hubert : Link
EWIGES REICH – Zeit des Erwarhens (Perverted Taste Records)

Before I heard their music, my gut instinct told me this band was lethal. I sensed it from the name alone. Now that I’ve investigated my hunch, I can honestly say Ewiges Reich can be hailed as one of the most intense Black Metal bands on the planet.

Their debut “Thron aus Eis” suffered from low production values, but overcame this shortcoming with dark, emotionally involved song writing. The gamut of material has strong overall musicality, depth and variance while retaining their hellish undertone. The depressively mid-paced “Im Vergorgenen” and high velocity machine gun “Inferno” are truly listenable memorable tracks. This album displayed a much tighter performance overall than their self-titled sophomore effort which fell short in all respects except production. It is violently energetic and clearly better produced, but fails in every song simply fading from memory as quickly as the record spins.

The third album “Zeit des Erwarhens” takes the song writing strength from “Thron aus Eis”, mixes it with the unadulterated violence from the second and creates something an International Weapons Tribunal should be screaming bloody murder to dismantle. The songs are straightforward, pulverizing, relentless. The vocals a gnashing blood choking onslaught of pure death. “Zeit des Erwarhens” literally explodes off the turntable like an atomic bomb. They hit a near perfect mark in production for this new material. Any cleaner and the violent edge is dulled. Any dirtier and the material fights frantically in the mud. Unlike their previous releases, everything comes through LOUD and clear now. Their musicianship clearly displayed and energy fully unbridled. This album contains musical velocity closer to rifle ammunition than recorded riffs and beats.

The ominous intro “Einleitng” leads to a blitzkrieg of violence in “Namenloser Hass”; a FAST song with solid time changes and hook laden riffs. This leads to “Masse Mensch”; my personal favorite. The riffs in this song strike the same primal chord as Immortal’s “A Sign for the Norse Hordes to Ride” did in ’93. An avalanche of distortion driven by drumming that defies human endurance. The next track “Traum vom Chaos” gallops at a mid-paced beat, it’s rider belching black vomit, before climaxing with some of the fastest escalating drumming speed I’ve heard to date. Drummer Maldoror should be named “Satan’s Gatlin Gun”. This motherfucker SMOKES! Side B holds an equally brutal wave of punishment. You could listen to either Side A or B in one sitting and satisfy your lust for intensity. It never lets up. The pace is designed to kill the weak.

Others describe Ewiges Reich as “Marduk-like Black Metal”. A strong comparison reference like this usually instigates negative conjecture in the seasoned metal minded consumer. For Ewiges Reich the opposite rings true. Ewiges Reich sounding like Marduk parallels anyone else sounding like “Pure Holocaust”-era Immortal and ACTUALLY pulling it off. “Sounding similar” and equaling the milestone for which the comparison stems are very different. There are a million bands who sound like one of the underground legends, but few who actually equal that band’s greatest output through their own ingenuity and perseverance. In this case, Ewiges Reich’s “Zeit des Erwarhens” stands toe-to-toe with Marduk’s “Heaven Shall Burn When we are Gathered”. The songwriting, power, performance and impact of these two records define extremity. The effect of two nuclear warheads detonating on innocent civilians and poseurs alike equals total fucking death. Music leaving such high casualty rates should be feared by the weak and embraced by the strong. Ewiges Reich deserve the respect of those same Black Metal groups who ripped our underground metal eardrums with mach speed and brutal songwriting and made us beg for more.

After hearing this record, I’ve concluded a person can experience what another endured in a different setting under different circumstances. I listened to Side A of “Zeit des Erwarhens”. The intensity numbed me into submission. Now I know what those Iraqi ragheads must have felt when the U.S. military bombed the shit out of them. Buildings laid to rubble and camels blown to bits. The kind of sonic jarring that cripples the human body. Then I listened to Side B. Any survivors from the initial attack, after being pounded by 1,000 pound bombs for a day, after watching their pet camel turned into Hamburger Helper, suddenly couldn’t shove their diapered heads deep enough in the sand when death fell from the skies again. This record is that fucking intense. I didn’t hide. I simply endured the punishment a second time even if it did hurt as much as the first.

Ewiges Reich is Black Metal that brings you to your knees. People will either fear or embrace this album. There is no in between. If you’re looking for atmosphere, get in a balloon and play in the clouds. If you’re looking for the next best thing to blowing your head off with a howitzer, look no further.

Kurt Hubert
September 3, 2004
2002-11-21 : PJS
The epic keyboard intro track of this album will fool you. This is some fast, ripping, mean, evil, kill-everyone black metal. Somehow the album is then able to saw through four tracks of speed, melt cleanly into an exceptionally evil-sounding dream acoustic "Finsternis" (German - "Darkness), and then hit you repeatedly in the face with a club for the remaining three metal tracks. The final track is a weird, weird noise track. Scream as the flayings continue, until one body can no longer be differentiated from another.