My hands where eagerly reaching out for this cd, when my fellow critic Thomas gave it to me. We where freezing our asses off in front of the Amager Bio – the venue hosting Danish Metal Awards – and I already looked forward to get home and comfortable, and spin this, the finale of one of the most interesting bands in the black metal genre. The point of Nocte Obducta is to sit in the twilight, in solitude, and just listen. And keep your razors a great distance away.
Since this cold evening, I’ve listened to “Sequenzen einer Wanderung” numerous times, and I’ve really tried to figure out what to write. It has been almost impossible to rate it. The reasons:
This is not metal. When I rate an album, for this site, I compare it to metal, since this is a metal-site. By this standard it should get quite a low rating – like I gave Deadlock, because it weren’t metal. But…
The music is really good. This of course ruins the argument of the bad rating, but on the other hand: I like jazz and classical music a lot, but these things would never be rated on this site. Thus, I’m left at a rating of N/A – and I hate that. Luckily there’s one more point:
Nocte Obducta is a metal band. Even a very good one, that has been a paramount influence on the avant-garde metal genre. They have made a departure album that is not really metal, but contains elements they implemented in their earlier work. This is the point of view that a write from. Let’s get to the part about the music:
“Sequenzen einer Wanderung” contains two tracks – but they could just as well be regarded as a single song, an epic symphony. As the title explains this is a concept album, about a hike (in lack of a better word; the “Wanderung” is part of the romantic culture of 18th century Europe). In the sleeve – along with some nice photo art – a number of highlights of this long walk is defined, through the track progression – e.g. “track 1, 13:32 Im Sonnensturm”. In every way this album melts together the medial tools. This is poetry, art and music all in one.
The music itself is rock at its base, but with a variety of aids applied. These aids take the form of electronica – very similar to “Metamorphosis” by Ulver, acid rock, some jazzy components and a tiny bit of black metal. I understand why this cocktail could appear like a bastard genre, but the musical ability of Flange, Marcel and Stefan creates a flow unlike much I’ve ever heard. Like in classical music “SeW” has returning musical themes – riffs and rhythm parts that binds together the whole structure of the album. This really helps the idea of a complete composition along.
All in all, this is one weird album. It was nothing like what I expected and almost completely lacks the brutal black metal Nocte Obducta has blended into the avant-garde on albums like “Stille”, “Schwarzmetall” and – my personal favorite – “Galgendämmerung”. For Nocte Obducta fans this is quite a surprise, but believe me, you only have to spin it five more times.
During a listening session, my ex-girlfriend said, that it’s too bad we both quit weed. That’s the effect of “Sequenzen einer Wanderung”.
