Wanderlust - The Tradition, The Mural, The Scythe (2013)

Hot on the heels of the debut full-length 'Monolithes entre ruines' and the EP 'The Endurance of Bronze' that were released simultaneously in September of 2012 is another new EP titled, 'The Tradition, The Mural, The Scythe.' Limited to just 50 copies and released in a DVD box with a four page booklet, printed on classic linen stock, which gives it a superb vintage feel. However, more importantly, the music.

I haven't heard the previous mentioned EP, but here on 'The Tradition, The Mural, The Scythe' Der Pestarzt is taking his music in a considerably different direction from the much more speedier and classic black metal sounding approach on the debut. 'Splintered Frames Grasp The Canvas' opens the EP in an ambient manner with the sounds of a violin intermingled with light percussion, chiming bells and distant whispered vocals it slowly seethes with atmosphere and in an odd sort of way reminds me of something Current 93 might have done two decades ago. The title track is however the main attraction, a monolith if I ever did hear one at eighteen minutes. Opening with light acoustics as well as (woodwind?) instrument of some sort pushed into the background, a heavily fuzzed up creeping riff eventually enters the song and for the next several minutes the song gains in momentum and effectively sets a sombre mood soon enough. Vocals also make their way into the mix in a truly grim and serious tone, as Der Pestarzt recites a lengthy and quite interesting message through his lyrics as the music continues to expand to much more epic territories. As the song comes to a close I almost expected a guitar solo to come up, but the various violin textures make their presence felt instead. The final song, 'A Path Through The Ephemeral Hour' bares similarities to the opening song with its overall feel, though it adds the black metal traits of the previous making it quite an effective closer to this EP.

'The Tradition, The Mural, The Scythe' stands as an interesting and new musical direction for Wanderlust, though with it being so limited only a select few will get to hear it. It does however give me hopes for a promising and fascinating full-length for the future.