Out of the blue a sudden announcement came that German Sickblackartists Fäulnis were preparing a new album and I patiently awaited it to fall in my promo in-tray downloading it the second it did. From then I have been immersing myself back in their somewhat twisted world, attempting best to make sense of it all. I guess the band are not particularly well known in the UK. They grabbed attention with me on 1st full length release ‘Gehirn zwischen Wahn und Sinn’ and threw me straight into a cold dark void before disappearing for nearly 5 years during which time main innovator Seuche moved to Japan for 6 months. Part inspired by this journey the band came back with second album Snuff || Hiroshima in 2014 and to all intents and purposes vanished off my radar again. I guess you could consider them a bit of a kult act, I know having spoken to the main-man a couple of times that they don’t particularly like labels or even feel that identity of band members is particularly important. Back again with seemingly a reshuffled cast and crew it’s time for another dose of BlackDoomPunkRock!
Again I have a stumbling block as far as determining any inner narrative to the actual themes here due to not understanding German and the language is a very important part of what we hear as it is delivered at full throated retch and screamed out with a real feel of bitterness and disgust. This goes in line fully with the music which is some of the most scathing and hateful stuff heard from the band to date. The opening number ‘Metropolis’ feels like the choked veins of a city disintegrating in on itself, overcrowded, decaying, corrupt and full of all manner of depravity. Guitars flail, drums bounce and everything is flung out at great speed but with plenty of groove and heartfelt passion about its attack. I always get a feel of serious mental anguish from the group’s music and that is exactly the vibe I feel here. The fact that they have shot a corresponding video only seems to enforce this. Could second number ‘Block 19, Mahlstrom’ refer to some cold war crumbling tenement building left to rot along with its inhabitants? Musically it gives some breathing space after the opening explosive shot and the doom and depressive tones that 1st drew me to the band unravel with some sublime melodic guitar weaving and tortured elongated screams. There’s some real melodic textures weeping away here which for some reason at first made me think of a Scottish melody which could have really been played out via bagpipe; very odd. We have kind of seen both sides of the band with these contrasting numbers and they pretty much pace things and elaborate on both facets as the album continues. At their most abrasive things gallop and clatter along and sudden bursts of feedback squeal out but it’s all controlled and placed precisely with thick melody coating the burgeoning chops. Vocals are full of angst but don’t go thinking of them as being emotive in any way, this is a different form of alienation and Seuche puts on an absolutely unrelenting performance throughout the album. It’s a bit difficult to mention anything where the band draw parallels from, they are unique to a fair extent and although they no doubt draw a loose likeness with others within the black metal scene you wouldn’t really want to tag anyone in with them. It would appear they are playing plenty of festivals in Germany (so word is spreading) as well as dates with others such as Unru, Vidargängr and Fleshcult. I guess for us over in the UK that’s going to be the only way to see them live.
One things for sure I like it equally when the band are belting along like an out of control express train as much as I do with the slower and morbid (even wrist slitting) strains of a song such as the gloomy ‘Im Auge des Sturms.’ As for ‘Kadaver’ well that’s a rotten corpse spilled over from the snuff of the last album and probably the most violent track on the album. One thing’s for sure Antikult really hit the mark and even if it’s another long wait before Fäulnis return, this one is going to keep me occupied for quite some time to come.
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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