Review by Vladimir on March 28, 2024.

From the forest of hanged man right into the forest where we witness the rebirth of terror, I am once again tasked to review the German black metal band Kreuziger, this time with their debut full-length album Die Wiedergeburt Des Schreckens from 2023, released via Christhunt Productions.

Kreuziger returns to yet again haunt the woods with uncompromising black metal, like a ghoulish cry in the distant, but this time much stronger since the forest of hanged men. The occult flame burns much higher through aggression and misanthropy within the band’s instrumental work, as well as the vocals, creating a strong musical curve and atmosphere filled with darkness and dread. Kreuziger’s output is much more intense and merciless than that of their demo from 2019, with more edge to the riffs and certainly to the vocals too, which easily outpowers their previous effort.

The songwriting is primarily all about simplicity, however there is a lot more progression in this album, with a strong sense of dynamics flowing through each section of a song. Although I still don’t think that the songs are that powerful or attractive sounding as they should be, they are at least effective in the way that they grab your attention and refuse to let go once a new riff comes up to defile in pure black metal fashion. One exception that actually did manage to stand out from the rest is the eight track 'Das Silberne Tor' for its melody and pounding action that crushes all the way through from the first riff to the very last one. Speaking of simplicity, I found the cover art to be particularly interesting, because its sketchy hand-drawn style gives some sort of unusual vibe like you are looking at a drawing found in an old book about folklore, demons and legends.

Coming straight after listening to their previous demo, I have to say that Die Wiedergeburt Des Schreckens really managed to wash off the sour taste of Der Wald Der Gehenkten, plus it really had more to offer and to behold even for a standard black metal album. Kreuziger were wise to take the foundation of their previous demo and build a stronger continuation that will show the band in a much more advanced form. For fans of underground black metal that are all about occult demon summoning rituals in a dark forest, check this one out, you are in for a nice ride.

Rating: 8 out of 10