Can one have epic music with no hooks, no groove? This is black metal heavy on atmospherics and ambience, not pit friendly, but with an unnerving edge that screams epic. You are definitely on a journey. Some think epic means simply write long songs. Geïst could do a  two minute song and make it epic. The songs build up to a climax, leave you hanging, dash you on the rocks, drown you, revive you, all within the confines of six to ten minutes. You definitely feel as though you are being carried somewhere.

You may know this German black metal band from their contribution to Homage to Falkenbach, you may know them from their days in Enid, or maybe you have had the misfortune of never crossing paths before. The Geïst guys released the highly satisfying Best Before Spring under the name of Eismalsott, recorded Patina and then formed Geïst taking the Patina recordings with them. This is significant to mention because if you only consider the recording released under the Geïst name the skillful presentation that is Galeere will seem surprising. Do yourself a favor and find yourself a copy of Best Before Spring, it really foretells where these guys have ended up. In the meantime several of the guys spent quality time in Funeral Procession. Funeral Procession is to Darkthrone what Warhammer is to Hellhammer. That side trip helped immensely in the formation of the first two Geïst albums, now they have once again opened up their sound to the bottomless depths of their full expression.

Going from a mid-period Immortal meets early Darkthrone style with a heavily rhythmic core and screaming leads, atmospheric intros and integrated interludes to a tight and polished moody introspective style is quite an achievement. Where they once were noisy without being chaotic and often grating with a mechanical but contradictory warm tone, now, their even longer than long songs are tight and focused on tones needed to achieve a desired mood instead of rapid fire finger picking. The drums are much more controlled and the emphasis is on slower pacing. There is much more depth to the presentation, and not just because of the sonar. With that depth and breath comes less density. Random sonic discharges have vanished. Galeere is more controlled, less jarringly disharmonic. On Patina, “Thanatos Phobein” was like intercepting a classical transmission through heavy static.

Galeere has all the usual suspects, plentiful acoustic guitars, harsh vocals, cleaner vocals, long drawn out shrill guitar lines, many carefully plucked leads, and rock solid steady drumming. Add in piercing grating squeaks and squeals and heavy guitar rumblings and the end result is uncomfortably melodic heavily rhythmic carefully crafted folk derived classy black metal. A must have release.

[Visit the band's website]

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