Von Liebenfels - 2008 - Herren Der Schwarzen Sonne

 2008 - Herren Der Schwarzen Sonne
Artist: Von Liebenfels 
Title: Herren Der Schwarzen Sonne
Label: SkullLine 
Genre: Burzumesque Bombastic Neo Classical

Track Listing:

01 Ostara
02 Eye of Black Stone
03 A Future For The Past
04 Brüder Des Lichts
05 Ich Hatt Einen Kamaraden
06 Masses Engulfed
07 Night of the Long Knives (Alternate)
08 Moti Ragnarokum (Burzum Cover)

Well, this album piqued my interest right away, the fact that there was once a human called Lanz Von Liebenfels, the famous founder of the Ordo Novi Templi or The Order of the New Templars, got me thinking what kind of music this would actually be. Even more intriguing is the fact that the music is made by a human under the name Torsten Von Liebenfels, so either it is a taken surname or perhaps he has some kind of a connection to the Austrian journalist Lanz Von Liebenfels. Anyway the theme is literary taken right out of the source and I do have a weak spot for occultism even in this rather extreme form, after all in the end you just have to look upon myths and legends with the mind of a free thinker.

I could hear right from the first track that the influences where indeed quite heavy from the materials of early Mortiis and Burzums more ambient tracks. This is not a bad thing in my opinion since I really love basic synthesizers and compositions of this type. The music is simple in an excellent way and succeeds in capturing that kind of serene beauty that Mortiis earlier albums reek with. The album starts out completely instrumental and the general feel was a good one, however with track number three these small passages of a sampled storytellers voice enters and splits me in half. The distorted voice is retelling the story of the atlanteans from a more, well, narrowed down perspective. I do know that the Nazis where trying to link their own bloodline with that of this lost race of god-men but it is still quite unnerving hearing this voice retelling the story as if it was the blind truth. I’m quite on the greyscale when it comes to politics and music, this album however might be over the edge even for those who tend to like other bands cuddling with fascist-ideologies and similar totalitarian traditions. Personally I have no idea if this is intended to be a political piece of music or if it is just as I hope a clever use of samplings to heighten the music in itself. It would have been an interesting talk if I could just speak to the man behind this project because I feel that the use of these samplings taken out of their contexts is brilliant. The bombastic and martial background music of Brüder Des Lichts fits perfectly with these really weird but somehow fitting samplings.

After this comes a more martial part with the songs Ich Hatt Einen Kamaraden and Masses Engulfed. The drums of the later mentioned song is quite horrible, and by that I mean they have a sound that made me skip the track after half the song passing with its samplings of whom I think is the fürher himself, once again bordering to the realm of being a bit much. The last two tracks however more than makes up for the lacking middle part. Nigh of the Long Knives is a more martial instrumental piece and finally a nice cover of Burzums Moti Ragnarokum rounds of the album. This is a good album and a fine example of how thin the border is between political correctness and music. However since I am not really sure what the album is trying to tell me it feels confusing listening to. A great ambient start turns out to be offering even more and I am personally not sure if it’s a masterpiece of an act of pure insanity. However I do recommend this excellent album to anyone with a strong sense of individuality and an attraction to music created by a political enigmatic human hell-bent on breaking new ground. However for the weak of heart and those more interested in staying politically correct this might not be the type of release you want. The whole context reminds me a lot of early Burzum and his path to infamy and legend, and perhaps that is the case. Any way the album is limited to 100 copies so those interested better hurry, and ye, the cover art is amazing in its simplicity, Iron Sky!

- taken from Heathen Harvest.com




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