Review by Felix on December 14, 2023.

The work of art is seen as a metaphor for life and the premonition of death, limitation and vastness, height and abyss, this world and the hereafter, faith and error, God and the world. Okay, okay, I admit, this sentence is not mine and it certainly doesn't refer to Erwachen, Atronos' second work. It is taken from a review for Caspar David Friedrich’s masterpiece “Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer” (The Wanderer above the sea of fog) from the year 1818. This fascinating painting came to my mind immediately, when I saw the cover of Erwachen for the first time. And no, I don’t think that people will still speak about Erwachen 205 years after its making, but somehow the statement at the beginning of my review also applies to this album.

Why? Well, Atronos also sings about great emotions, mostly dark ones of course. Their lyrics, which seem to be connected with each other, have a fatalistic touch. They deal with essential questions and the music underlines this approach impressively. Senselessness, fear and uncertainty are reflected, while the very cynical element of their debut is on the retreat. The modified way of proceeding is also mirrored by a changed musical offering. Atronos have reduced the number of tracks from eight to five, but the long-player offers four minutes more music than Fehde. So we have excessive designs here and the longer the album lasts, the more it sets the focus on atmosphere. The title track, simultaneously the longest piece, outlines broad musical landscapes and gets slowly but steadily intoxicated with itself. Keyboard lines that sound like background vocals create an almost hypnotic effect. From time to time Atronos offer almost raptured, heavenly sounds, but Baptist’s voice always brings us back into the real world. His masterly vocals are well known from Mavorim and his throaty articulation of disgust adds a fine black metal aura. Okay, sometimes he surprises with clean singing, but usually his vocals are like the behavior of a vicious, fatally wounded animal that wants to kill randomly chosen other animals before it dies.

Tremolo picking, very well integrated breaks, harsh sections, tempo changes – Erwachen presents all these features and puts them together in a mostly very clever way without leaving plenty of room for improvement. For example, the break that introduces the heroic, mid-paced section in 'Was Uns So Schrecklich Hasst' spreads wonderful and enticing vibes, but it goes without saying that exactly these vibes lure everyone into a deadly trap at the end. However, even the droning guitars at the beginning of 'Alles Geht Dahin' are not lacking in individual power and a lyric line like "es bleibt nur Tod, Tod, Tod” (all that remains is death, death, death) makes it clear that no flowers grow here, at most over the graves of countless failed people.

The full, warm and adequately harsh sound as well as the stylish artwork round off the picture. From my point of view, Erwachen is no perfect album, but there are only minor details that do not fully work. No doubt, it marks the first milestone for the band and it is a massive step forward. Fehde marked a good beginning, but its successor opens the door to another dimension, a bigger, darker and more menacing one. The band is well on the way to earning a similarly good reputation as Mavorim for example, because it has a fine instinct for the creation of a coherent big picture and even the ambient beginning of 'Tobsucht' leaves its seductive aroma. Although almost nothing happens for three minutes, this is simply brilliant music. The more I think about it – perhaps one day art connoisseurs will mention Atronos in the same breath as artists of the caliber of Caspar David Friedrich. Perhaps the timeless wanderer knows? Too bad we can't ask him.

Rating: 8.4 out of 10