Even if you don’t realise it, chances are you have heard of renowned supernatural German author Gustav Meyrink due to his most praised novel The Golem which was adapted to film several times. The strangely named Meister Leonhardt is one of his other creations which took the form of a short story and obviously provided inspiration for this new musical act. I went on a search to read but only turned up a German language version online so I am afraid its vagaries are going to have to prove mysterious in the context of things. The band themselves too are under a shroud of elusiveness as far as info is concerned and all we have to go on is that they “consist of members of such well-established underground outfits as Thy Grave, Dekonstruktor, Goatpsalm, and Frozen Ocean”. With that in mind it must be Russia we are off to and among others back in the mind of Vaarwel whose music has been featured plenty in the past on these pages.

As with early Frozen Ocean this is raw black metal and unadulterated of modern trends and trimmings. It is obvious that the band have looked back at the past and set out to present their debut in an authentic fashion deriving back to the roots of the genre. Austere instrumental opener ‘The Coldest Fire’ sets a scene in a fantastical way via frosty keyboard drawing the listener into a cold world full of mystery. Then ‘The Crown Of Consenescence’ batters in with bruising drums and furrowing riffs, guttural vocals spitting spite over the top. The raw and brackish nature along with the drive and motion of the music quickly makes its intent felt. This is very olden in style but not without a melodic thrust, the production is brash but the heft behind it makes it more than listenable, no shoddy demo recording here. Speed is not the only constant either as the track moves into a doomy crevasse which spills over neatly into next track ‘Of Things Never Finished,’ a brooding morass of sombre melody but with plenty of bounce about it, the throaty vocals following every step of the way.

‘Nystagmus’ is probably the most immediate number here (and if you are wondering is a condition whereby a person suffers with involuntary, uncontrollable eye movements) a twitchy bounce-up-and-down affair with more than a spot of punkish pogo to its black metal mainframe. It’s hardly surprising that Darkthrone spring to mind here a little. By complete contrast ‘Thirst and Spiritual Infirmity’ is a slow crawl towards death, morbidly slothful as the seconds tick away and the bodies corruption slips through the sands of an eggcup, the grave just a leaden step away.

At a bit under half an hour in length this is a good introduction to Meister Leonhardt, where they take it and whether it becomes a fully fledged thing remains to be seen but it strikes as much more than a lockdown bash about and a deep-rooted love affair to the traditions of black metal. Last number ‘The Greatest Of Circles’ coils around and completes things leaving you wanting more and I am even more intrigued to track down that story now and see if the loose ends all tie up

(7.5/10 Pete Woods)

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