Nachtfalke - Doomed to Die (2002)

At the turn of the century kvlt black metal act Moonblood folded leaving Tino "Occulta Mors" Mothes without any main project. Even if Nachtfalke (German for Night Falcon) was initiated in '97 and a few demos and splits surfaced thereafter the band probably didn't become a priority until the Moonblood split. Since then Tino has issued six full-length albums, and while I've only heard his second outing, 'Doomed to Die,' I can quite easily say this is a worthwhile project that deserves more attention.

Where Moonblood was raw, evil in character and straight forward black metal, Nachtfalke focuses in on more epic atmospheres while still retaining that under produced quality that all real black metal should have. Forgoing the Satanic aspects of his previous project, Nachtfalke uses Norse mythology as a lyrical source as well as Germanic Paganism.

Opening song, 'Valhall' opens with the sounds of swords clashing, horses and men howling and a demonic narrator introducing the listener to the world of Nachtfalke. About a minute in a piercing cold riff enters, always creating the effect of something massive on the horizon. Before long pummeling drums and cymbal crashes decimate when eventually Occulta's raspy shrieks take over, but surprisingly there's also a mixture of clean vocals in an oddly very catchy chorus. The song itself is really the perfect merger of utterly raw black metal with Viking touches and I'd honestly be lying if I said this song was anything less than a masterpiece. 'Pestkrieg' is slower in tempo and really focuses in on the epic characteristics and is comparable to later period Graveland in a way, while 'One Home of Once Brave,' which is a Bathory cover, is fairly similar to the original, though I like it better since Mr. Mors' clean vocals don't sound completely silly as Quorthon's did on that album. 'Fallen Heroes' opens with a very Viking-era Bathory-ish riff before returning to the more pulverizing nature of the first song, with varying tempos of course throughout, whereas the final song, 'Einherjer (Doomed to Die),' is the albums slowest cut, but quite majestic in its overall style and the inclusion of some otherworldly synths really brings it to the next level.

As a whole the album is just thirty five minutes long, which is rather short for the style presented, but all five songs are absolutely excellent so I really don't have room to complain. For whatever reason I've never checked out the bands other albums, but other reviews seem to suggest quality the whole way through. Definitely an album to check out, especially if the idea of a more epic Moonblood sounds right to you.