Review by Felix on February 14, 2026.

Together with wolves and ravens, the serpent is one of the most loved animals of black metal fans. Therefore, one cannot deny a certain logic that Auro from Germany has chosen this lovely creature as their heraldic animal. It decorated the artwork of their self-titled debut, and it returns larger than life on “Im Schatten Der Bastion”. The colourless cover is well done and appears like an invitation to a journey back in time. I am speaking about the 10 years before and after the turn of the millennium, when bands like Aeba offered their form of black metal. Of course, it was dark, but also with melodic sequences, among other things, due to the clever and song-friendly use of atmospheric keyboard sounds. 'Insignien Der Macht', the first regular song, connects vehement outbursts with nearly transcendental parts in a masterful manner. This is a promising start to an album whose spiritual fathers have obviously understood the spirit of the subgenre.

Speaking of the album’s creators, the line-up has grown to six people. Nevertheless, lead guitarist Framan is the only composer, and lead vocalist Dragg is still responsible for the lyrics. These guys are the backbone of the band; they are the only musicians who have already been fully in charge of the debut. One finds no significant modifications in style, but the production is better this time. While the first album suffers from a thin, demo-like mix, “Im Schatten Der Bastion” has a proper sound that matches the grim, sometimes spooky and, from time to time, archaic character of the tracks. The listener is not confronted with a massive, fat attack, but with a mix that conveys the sinister attitude of black metal. Given this, the four songs of the A side meet each other more or less on an equal footing, none of them falls by the wayside, and especially the transitions from one part to the next are well done. They lend the material an almost smooth note, but it is not at the expense of the natural bitterness that the album spreads. Only the abrupt start of the squeaking guitar solo of 'Lux Caeaca' creates a pretty crude moment.

The inlay of the stylish gatefold vinyl tells us that in the shadow of the bastion lies the boundless graveyard. Although I do not see a forest of crosses before my inner eye, the album creates a nightly aura. The passionate, nagging, and screaming vocals and the powerful instrumental section do a good job during the main part of the full-length, the songs on positions two to eight. It is hardly possible to define highlights, because these seven pieces form a strong unit with a very good balance between cruelty and eeriness. Despite their variability and their never progressive but venturous arrangements, the songs do not appear torn or fragmentary. With that said, it is surely no exaggeration to say that Auro have the talent it needs to climb a few more steps up the German black metal ladder. Okay, this scene does not suffer from a decline in membership, but new soldiers are always welcome.

The only thing I do not understand is why they recorded an outro that has nothing to do with the general vibrations of the full-length. To quote the inside of the gatefold, it is heavily inspired by Hubert Kah’s kitschy, romantic piece of shit 'Wenn Der Mond Die Sonne Berührt'. For those of you who do not know – for good reasons – this jester, Hubert Kah, was a guy who had this fifteen minutes of fame during the Neue Deutsche Welle at the beginning of the eighties. He played pop songs which had nothing in common with some of the more rebellious tracks of this actually interesting movement. Thus, the completely useless outro is light-years away from anything I call black metal, especially its second half. However, everyone has a quirk, and I am tolerant (today). So “Im Schatten Der Bastion” is definitely recommendable and a good foundation for the further evolution of Auro and their serpent.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Michael on September 15, 2025.

When I saw the album cover of the new Auro album "Im Schatten Der Bastion" I instantly fell in love with that. Okay, that might have been a little bit hasty because I hadn't heard a single tune from that but that cover…..

Now I have heard the album several times and I still like it. As expected, it isn't an album with ballads, no not even a semi-ballad is here to find. It seems that my perception about album covers is still quite fine. What we can hear on "Im Schatten der Bastion" (which means "In The Shadow Of The Stronghold") is quite fast black metal with a lot of atmospheric elements created with some smooth keyboards here and there.

Stylistically the album, which is the second one by the Bavarians, lies between some harsh German black metal bands like Mavorim or Eisenkult and more atmospheric black metal like German Drudensang or old Emperor or Gehenna. Okay, this is not the biggest miracle if you have a look at the band members who play(ed) in these bands.

Check "Strom Der Verborgenheit" and you will know what I mean. This is a really great black metal song because the keyboards are used very smartly here to create a very mystic atmosphere, just to get some grim outbursts in some parts of the song, too.

Also the other songs are more or less kept in the same way so that the album with a total running time of about 36 minutes is a very entertaining album that doesn't get boring at any point.

One of my personal favorites is "Lux Caeaca". This song is a little bit punkier than the rest and sounds pretty dirty. Like swimming though the castle moat where the toilet is built above the castle tower. The guitars are sawing and the vocals sound very fierce and grim.

"Glanz Des Titanen" – this title also sounds very majestic but the titan isn't really shimmering. This titan is destroying and blood-stained and full of rage. Again the vocals sound really sinister, they are more spit-out than sung here. Songs like these are just what black metal stands for, really amazing stuff.

Another thing that makes out good black metal is the not so good production. On "Im Schatten Der Bastion" we can hear less bass and the music sounds a little bit raw but this is what makes the album that cold and dark. It fits really well to the cover and the music.

Oh, did I say, there is no bass? At the end of "Ausklang – Figura Serpentinata (Im Zenit Der Eklipse)" there is a lot of bass. Here we go disco, straight back to the 80s. Don't know which demon tortured the guys for that (maybe the Disco Stu demon, I had to laugh pretty hard when I heard it for the first time).

So, Stuart Dicothèque says check Auro and dance!

Rating: 8.7 out of 10