In september, Ván Records released a split release of two veteran German black metal bands. One is Mightiest from the south of Germany, the fabled dark Black Forest, the other is Funeral Procession from East Frisia in Lower Saxony. Both bands were founded in the mid-90s, both have released only one album each besides various EPs and split releases, Mightiest even needed 22 years until the release of their great debut album SinisTerra. But this doesn't have to mean anything, just think about the cult band Sadistic Intent, who haven't released an album since the distant year 1987 until today. Despite this long history and their first-class music, both bands - probably also due to the lack of album releases - could never reach the level of popularity of similarly started bands like Secrets of the moon or Lunar Aurora.
I still remember my first contact with Mightiest, a review of the "Whatever ground we may roam" demo in German Rock Hard magazine, which received a very good review in my memory . That must have been in 2003, but it took me another five years to buy the excellent "Bloodyssey 1994-2003" 2-CD compilation released in 2008 via Cyclone Empire, which included all releases up to that time. First class 90s black metal, which presented a perfect symbiosis of rough, dark elements paired with melody and synthesizer.
In 2017 I was in Freiburg to attend a kind of remake of the legendary Bad Wörishofen concert of 1997 with Lunar Aurora, Nordlys, Mightiest and Nagelfar, although Nagelfar and Lunar Aurora no longer existed at that time, of course, and these two bands were replaced by Kermania from the Aachen Ván environment, and by Weltengänger, a one-time partial revival of Lunar Aurora. This was, especially in the dark basement of the Crash location a great experience, and for a short time one could also cherish the hope that Nordlys would remain active, but that seems not to have been the case.
"Passage the deathmantra" offers great epic-melancholic blackened heavy metal, a great piece which provides great melodies as well. Absolutely convincing! "Breath of the storm" is a re-recording of the "Eden's fall" demo from 1999, this time a bit rougher, and "Storm of Evil" is an awesome cover version of the mighty Isengard.
Funeral Procession's part of the split begins with a short ominous intro and then starts directly with furiously rattling intense, raw black metal. As before, Funeral Procession's works stand under the motto "Total black metal", also the note "Listen in darkness & at maximum volume" gives a good indication of the possible cathartic element of the music. Funeral Procession also vary from time to time, a certain dynamic within the stylistically narrow corset of black metal is also given here. Atmospherically dense, furious, then again clattering mid-tempo parts that merge into melancholic, dark melodies - in the 90s, this was already the perfect Walkman soundtrack for a walk in the woods. The last line in "Sylent Is the Lone Voyce That Cryeth in the Wilderness" is "Doom, death and downfall", there is no better way to describe the quintessence of Funeral Procession's music. Last but not least, there is a cool cover version of Moonblood's "Moonstruck".
All in all, a great release, reminiscent of the golden days of black metal, when there were no cell phones and no one could come up with the absurd idea that the point of going to a concert would be to record the whole thing with your smartphone. The attractively designed artwork plays its part in this great release, and of course it comes into its own on the limited 180g vinyl version, available in black or gold. Highly recommended for all fans of charismatic underground black metal!
Next year there will also be a big story about Mightiest here, where I will travel to the Black Forest and present the most significant places and locations in the band's history. Be curious!
