Von Branden is a musical project featuring Solarian von Branden (vocals), Vestriz von Branden (guitars, bass, vocals) and Arminius von Theesfeld (drums, accordion). Von Branden was brought to life in 2004 and after 2 demos “Behind the Rain” (2004) and “Ignoranzkult” (2006) they are now ready to release their first full length album entitled “Scherben”.

When I first threw this disc in my hard-tried CD-player I was somehow surprised... I did not expect music like this. They are labelled as a Gothic Metal band but to me they are so much more than that. Well... I could easily call it Atmospheric-Emotional-Gothic-Melodic-Black-Metal and style and sound wise they are close to Cronian. We get 9 songs, included a Tori Amos cover, “Winter” and I must admit that I actually find this album quite good despite musical instruments like; cello, saxophone and a piano.

The male vocals are both clean and almost Black Metal-like, but we also get female Gothic vocals, not at bad mix if you ask me. The music is very emotional and atmospheric but it needs a couple of spins to grow. But just turn off the lights and close your eyes and let the music captivate you. Dark, beautiful, cold, emotional are some of the words I use here to describe their music. There are new things to discover with every listen and the more I listen to it the more I like it.

Von Branden has certainly broadened my horizon when it comes to music, that’s for sure. But do have in mind that you have to be in a certain mood to swallow this. This is definitely a must for every fan of absorbing atmospheric musical sound scapes.