Folterkammer (mems. Imperial Triumphant) Links to the Past on "Das Magnificat" (Early Track Stream)

As far as musical epochs are concerned, even with the Modernists of the 20th century, we are still trapped in the post-Romantic era. Chord progressions and melodic ideas all follow the tenets of Romanticism and Post-Romanticism more than any other era (unless you move into more emulatory style). This, of course, means black metal, an undoubtedly current style of music, can go hand in hand with Romantic lieder. Both follow the same musical tenets, both employ extreme emotion as a mode of expression, and both, especially black metal, utilize dramatics to make their point.

Though other bands have used “operatics” (which is honestly a layman’s version of saying “the use of classical voice”) in black metal, their cartoonish and honestly saccharine execution left much to be desired On the other hand, Folterkammer — featuring members of Imperial Triumphant performing with vocalist Andromeda Anarchia — finds a happy medium between the old and new through the elements which make them similar. Black metal’s pomp moves in harmony with Andromeda Anarchia’s accomplished, powerful voice, which soars, shrieks, and bellows in an all-consuming way. Stream “Das Magnificat” from the band’s debut album Die Lederpredigt below.

…

…

From vocalist Andromeda Anarchia:

In a deceitful way we have twisted and rewritten passages from the well-known Catholic hymn of praise to Maria “The Magnificat” and woven them into our song lyrics. In contrast to the original, we do not sing about the greatness of “God”, but about the almighty mistress of malice, as she is described in all our songs: an evil, bloodthirsty, all dominating female “Über-Macht” (“superior power”).
In the choir, the mistress is praised by the voices of the submissive dead souls of her victims. It is a sensual description of the sick-morbid scene, which tells how the mistress tortures her victims and bites them to death with relish, which arouses her to the point of absolute ecstasy. Here the motifs of mouth, teeth and tongue play a central role: the death bite – which only frees the souls from the body, but then keeps them in eternal captivity and in the infinite momentum of torment. This eternal imprisonment is seen as an act of mercy, eternal torment as the ultimate goal of the afterlife.
The mood of the song is festive, praising, pompous, provocative while the music is catchy, engaging and gripping: the chorus literally bites into place.

From bassist Darren Hanson:

We wanted to create something that had a more traditional black metal feel. We have been fans of Angantyr for well over a decade, and used Ynleborgazs compositions as inspiration. I wanted to see if I could construct a highly melodic riff that feeds into a more ethereal chorus. I have a tendency to keep building on melodies by making them incredibly long, so I wanted a stark juxtaposition between the main riff and the constantly escalating chorus.

…

Die Lederpredigt releases December 11th on Gilead Media.

Support Invisible Oranges on Patreon and check out our merch.