The new Von Thronstahl is again released by the guys themselves and can seemingly also only obtained by the guys themselves. But no worries, I had my copy within the week. It comes in a luxery digipack with strange collages all over and with a poster and old and new adds. Again pinpointing current happenings, Von Thronstahl named their album “War, holy war!?”.
Musically there is quite something to say. The sound is by far not as dark as on the first releases, but that is a line that we could already hear on previous releases. Often the sound is obviously Von Thronstahl, but overall the guys keep reminding me of Forthcoming Fire. Several tracks are slightly ‘gothic’, here and there technoish sounds and even there are Forthcoming vocals in one track. No neofolk anymore, but of course there are some tranquil orchestral tracks to be found. Most tracks are slighly uptempo and sometimes a bit bombastic, but again, not as bombastic as on earlier cds. Also the music, like the cover is often a collage of sounds, quite like the “Re-turn…” album. Minor point, a “We Walked In Line” cover, but the Blood Axis cover is a lot better.
I doubt Von Thronstahl will ever top their first cd for me, but still this is a very nice album. <12/7/03><3>