Premiere: Waldgeflüster - Meine Fesseln

Waldgeflüster‘s a bit more polished than most solo black metal projects we’ve talked about around here. The band is the project of one Winterherz, a German with a penchant for both folk and relatively clean guitar tone black metal. On paper, that’s not something I’m crazy about—in practice, performed by Waldgeflüster (meaning “Whispering Forest”), it works surprisingly well.

A first listen to Waldgeflüster and you’ll tick off some familiar boxes—melancholic, atmospheric, nature reverent, pagan-tinted (new license plate?), etc. What separates Waldgeflüster from the chaff is ambitious, sometimes playful songwriting and that Pagan Edge (new scene?)–listening to it, for whatever reason, I’m thinking Amorphis meets Drudkh, or something similar. That’s a cross section I can get behind. After multiple listens, the clean, at first too sincere vocals work. Track five, “Wenn die Morgensonn…”, is a favorite. Meine Fesseln is Waldgeflüster’s third full-length, out today on Bindrune Recordings.

— Wyatt Marshall