Eminenz from Annaberg-Buchholz in Saxony have been active in the underground for ages, since 1989 to be exact. Not least their joint appearance with the then unknown Mayhem (still with Dead as singer, and if I'm not mistaken, announced as "Death Metal from Norway") in Germany also ensured a solidification of their status in black metal circles, especially in retrospect. Funnily enough, the legendary "Live in Leipzig" performance featured Manos, who later changed into a kind of comedy band, and whose part is often attributed to Eminenz. But more about that later in the interview with Eminenz here at Systematic Desensitization Zine. But let's move on to the current album, which I only found out about afterwards, more or less by chance, when it was released via Northern Silence Records. Already the great, detailed and atmospheric cover artwork from the drummer's pen, which shows a medieval battle, sets the mood for the album. After an atmospheric intro with monks singing and acoustic impressions of a battlefield, the album starts with a punchy track accentuated with fitting synthesizers. The croaking vocals strike exactly the right balance between nastiness on the one hand and intelligibility on the other. Stomping midtempo parts perfectly underline the chorus of "Diabolical Warfare", before a very melodic, almost melancholic guitar solo refines the track. You can't find a much better introduction to an album, perfect! "Lucifer's Awakening" starts with a harsh blackmetallic speed attack, before midtempo parts and melodic solos are interspersed here as well. So you see, there is a relatively big dynamic on this album, which gives it a certain long-term effect.
In summary, one can say that the band has succeeded with "Diabolical Warfare", which brings it to 48 minutes with eight, mostly somewhat longer tracks, their Opus Magnum, in my opinion Eminenz have never been better. Eminenz play keyboard-accentuated, atmospheric black / death metal in the best sense of the term, melodic and dark, sometimes symphonic, but never lacking the necessary heaviness. In terms of quality, this work is light years ahead of the bands that produced unspeakable kitsch and plastic junk in the 90s under the influence of the success of bands like Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir and their ilk. Since there are not too many bands with these stylistic characteristics any more, for example I think of the reformed Agathodaimon from Germany, everyone who got the description of the almost perfect mixture of hardness and melody should get this album as soon as possible!
