DORNENREICH – “FLAMMENTRIEBE”
PROPHECY PRODUCTIONS (2011)

Metal Church - The Present Wasteland

Sixteen years ago, a young musician by the name of Thomas “Valñes” Stock decided to breathe life into an outfit that allowed him to express a number of diverse, but equally strong feelings. This band, which was given the colorful title Dornenreich (aka “Realm of thorns” or “Full of thorns” in German), became a reality the moment multi-instrumentalist Jochen “Evíga” Stock (vocals, guitar. Bass) became part of the picture and it was not long after that ‘union’ took place that their first full length “Nicht Um Zu Sterben” (1997) was released. Since then many important changes have taken place, including the departure of Thomas in 2006 – one thing, however, always remained the same; the band’s ability to combine painful atmospheric passages with moments of extreme Black Metal madness. It is this very same ability that has once again been the driving power behind the band’s latest studio effort “Flammentriebe” – an album that, given the chance, will undoubtedly raise quite a few eyebrows!

If you read any reviews of the band’s past releases, you will find a number of different descriptions referring to their quite daring musical orientation – from Black Metal to Avant-Garde and from Ambient to Neo-Folk. The truth is that none of these descriptions are capable in themselves of describing what the duo Stock/Riesner are presenting us with here and that, in my humble opinion, is the band’s strongest attribute! In the album’s thirty nine minutes, the listener will be taken on a musical journey that is both uplifting and plunging to unbelievable depths one’s emotional state – an experience which may be familiar to you from the several bands of truly high status and caliber – bands such as Anathema, My Dying Bride and Katatonia.

Dornenreich hail from Austria and they are quite proud of the fact, hence their decision to use only German for the lyrics of their albums. Is that a bad thing? Though it is a shame that those of us who don’t speak the language are missing out on something potentially quite special, the fact is that the natural harshness of German fits quite well: bleak narratives accompany beautifully-crafted atmospheric passages like the one featured in the opening track “Flammenmensch” – a composition whose backbone is based on a massive rhythmical Black Metal riff and harmonies reminiscent of early Primordial. The first song that really stood out was the five minute “Der Wunde Trieb” – a beautiful track whose painfully atmospheric violin melodies are heavily influenced by My Dying Bride but which still contains some truly inspirational head banging riffs. More Primordial influences can be found in the simply-crafted “Tief Im Land”, while the follow up “Wolfplus” is a seven and a half minute opus which features an array of rhythmical changes and emotional moods. The one composition which proves that the band has truly matured over the years and which stands out as the best track of the album is “Wandel Geschehe”, leaving both “Fahrte Der Nacht” and “In Allem Weben” to compete between them for second best. This truly enjoyable offering comes to en end with…well, not a bang, but a magnificent instrumental piece entitled “Erst Deine Trane Loscht Den Brand” – a moody emotional piece which you should try to avoid listening to if not in a good emotional state.

Dornenreich are in a truly difficult position: in order to make an impression as an atmospheric Metal band, they have to compete with some really impressive acts, the names of which you have already come across earlier in my review. I truly hope that being a German speaking band is not going to become an impediment to their career, something that would be totally unfair, considering the fact that we are constantly bombarded by numerous releases of non-English speaking bands – bands whose musical output is far less impressive when compared to that of this Austrian duo! Guys, if you get truly excited every time you hear a staccato Black Metal riff and an acoustic guitar passage, and if the mournful sound of a violin brings goosebumps to your body then you seriously need to get your hands on “Flammentriebe” – it’s really as simple as that!

John Stefanis

Rating: **** (4.0/5.0)

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