Despite being formed in 2000 ans this being their 5th album, this is my first exposure to the German black metal war machine known as Endstille, and while a scathing vicious take on razor sharp black metal, I don’t think I’ll b checking out the back catalog unless I see it used or cheap somewhere.

Plying the same form of continual, tremolo picked staccato fury as the likes of mid era Marduk, Dark Funeral, The Legion, Setherial and such, though they do inject some of their own character here and there, Endstille are competent and feral but aren’t doing anything new, creative or groundbreaking as some of their German compatriots.

Still, though there’s enough here to entertain most traditional black metal fans, from the high pitched screeches to the pretty singular paced frozen blasts (“No Heaven Over Germany”, “The One I Hate”, “Scars”) and occasional menacing, Germanic military marches (“Der Ketzer”, “Endstille (Retalitat)). But nothing reached out and shredded my throat. It’s all done well with an above average production and tight musicianship, but apart from the clever atonal assault of both the title track and “I Am God”, the album is a pretty standard, raging black metal assault, delivered with typical German precision.

Despite all that’s decent about the album, the fact is when bands like Wolves in the Throne Room, Deathspell Omega, Averse Sefira are simply pushing the boundaries of black metal, a release like this seems almost prehistoric. But then again, history can be fun sometimes.

[Visit the band's website]

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