(written by Islander)
The German black metal duo Vimbulnatt have been on a creative hot streak from the emergence of their first single in 2019. Since then they’ve released a continuing flood of singles and demos, plus four albums and an EP. Their most recent album (until now) was Der dunklen Tugenden. Der Urgrund, released in November 2024, and now they’re following that with a new full-length named Der dunklen Tugenden. Echos.
This new record will be co-released by Kernkraftritter Records (Germany) and Void Wanderer Productions (Netherlands) on May 28th. To help introduce it, we want to share these evocative words we’ve received from the labels about the music’s inspiration:
An autobiographical canvas woven from experiences, pain, hopes, happiness, deaths of loved ones and Death walking nearby.
An animal cry calling out to all forces that can help. A heartbreaking howl in silence. Fury that can change matter. A thought that has the power to create a new world.
The sound of a heart being torn into fragments and consciousness falling into the abyss.
And the rise from the ashes of the ancient depths of those energies to which the path was forgotten.
A symphony of despair and a worship of the inexhaustible power of Chaos, for there is no other force capable of giving birth to the new… When the old is already dead…
As the first sign of how Vimbulnatt’s new music channels these feelings (and it definitely does), we now present the album’s first track premiere, “Kernumwandlung“.
This song is driven by heart-in-your-throat intensity, not only by its full-throttle propulsion and full-throated vocal scorching but even more so by the wrenching torment captured by the guitars and the bass. As the drums blast away at furious speed the stringed instruments create a high-low harmony of feverish desperation, an amalgam of undulating and searing melodies that rise, fall, and seem to writhe in agony.
Vimbulnatt add dynamism by injecting quick variations in the drum patterns, and they add variations to the vocals as well (though all of them are harsh), but it’s the riffing and the coordinated bass-lines that really cause the song to inflict such an authentically explosive emotional impact. The fiery whirl of the guitars is piercing; the heated throb and moan of the bass is viscerally potent; and the crazed screaming of a guitar solo is especially electrifying as it seems to manifest emotional pain as chaos and even fury.
There is no relent in the song’s ravishing intensity, and while calling such an intensely distressing song “catchy” may not be the best word for it, the melodic riffing really does spike a listener’s head deeply — which is to say, “Kernumwandlung” is very memorable, and if you’re like this writer you’ll go back to it immediately and repeatedly.
VIMBULNATT is:
Paul Popov (all instruments)
Alex Sukhov (vocals)
Der dunklen Tugenden. Echos was recorded by Paul Popov and Alex Sukhov. It was mixed and mastered by Paul Popov (Katamonas Records), and he also created the artwork, insert art, lay-out, and logo.
The album will be released on LP vinyl by Void Wanderer (shipping from The Netherlands) and Kernkraftritter Records (shipping from Germany), with distribution from Germany by Schattenpfade Support Circel. For more info, check the links below.
PRE-ORDER:
https://voidwanderer.com/product/vimbulnatt-der-dunklen-tugenden-echos/
https://digital.krachnacht.de/Vimbulnatt
https://www.schattenpfade.de/
VIMBULNATT:
https://vimbulnatt.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/vimbulnatt