It’s been almost four years since debut album ‘Blood On Snow’ was unleashed and we have been looking forward to new material from this English troop formed in Ipswich for some time. One of the reasons it has taken a while for some fresh fodder is no doubt due to breaks in the ranks which saw some of the original band members defecting and forming their own division Stahlsarg. Not taking this lying down Eastern Front were quick to get back to full strength and have honed their craft with a large assault on the gigging front around London and further afield, building their reputation as both support and headliner along the way. One thing that is needed for their live shows however is new material, we got an introduction to it in the form of ‘Blitzfreeze’ at Incineration Festival and things boded well, now we have the chance to get to grips with the second album of war torn material at last and no doubt hear a lot more of it live when they launch the album in London this weekend.
The eight tracks have a lot to them from the sound of old music played on a crackling gramophone and a plane spiralling downward in a crash collision they boom straight into opener Retribution Sky. Immediately there is that sense of pathos and I have said this before but this is not a case of revelling in war but one that reflects on the horrors of it all. There are lots of maudlin atmospheres none more apparent when the track suddenly downs tools going down a more acoustic route with some dictatorial spoken word parts, it’s the futility of it all that hits you. If you are looking for fast, furious and burgeoning black metal no worry it is there in spades (or maybe entrenching tools). Drums are fired off like salvos of machine gun fire rat tat tatting away magnificently on the aforementioned Blitzfreeze, guitars are tight like barbed wire and Nagent’s vocals are rough and coarse.
As with the likes of Hail Of Bullets, songs tell a story and have no doubt been thoroughly researched and compel you to take a history lesson and find out what they are all about. ‘Katyn Forest’ is such a case in point and one that had me reading up on the massacre of Polish officers that occurred there in 1940. It ends with what sounds like a bullet fired to the back of the head making it even more effective. Subject matter is often grim and is portrayed in a ferocious determined matter on tracks such as ‘The Hanging Of Faith’ which barrages away with an underlying melodic sense of sorrow at its heart. The balance is just right as once you have given this a few spins (it’s not an immediate album) the brutality and the abject gloomy atmospheres sink in giving you the best of both facets. Having said that it’s not an album that you are going to leave feeling all happy from, sure there are many fist pumping moments but it’s one you are more likely to want to leave with a couple of minutes silence in its wake for quiet contemplation and reflection.
Some of the tracks like Descent Into Genocide are a totally immersive listening experience as they twist and turn away for almost 10 minutes. Again there is lots going on but the ever present rasps from the vocalist are an engaging force I found myself concentrating on as the music spirals away. Instrumental break Die Reise In Den Tod Pt 1 is full of sorrow, drums tap out a slow militaristic beat and the acoustic number really does leave you with an image of those who have fallen and the desolate remains of a battle lingering in your thoughts. Whirring in and cleaving after is the short sharp attack of ‘Ghouls Of Leningrad’ which I anticipate is going to be particularly effective live and has plenty of power behind it. The final epitaph is very fitting however with what I have said previously, the title ‘Memory Of The Fallen’ makes it evident. Musically as it comes in there is a lot of passion behind it and I can’t help thinking that it would not have surprised if Alan Averill’s tones had swooped over this, it does have a very Primordial feel to it. It’s a pretty damn sobering affair but one that is stirring and evocative with it.
Eastern Front have delivered no exercise in death and glory and something that cannot be looked at as a triumph in the true sense of the word. What they have done is combined powerful black metal with a sensitivity and respectful air to those that fought for the freedom we endeavour to share today.
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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