Listen to Good Black Metal: Der Weg Einer Freiheit

The current state of black metal kinda stinks. Following the great black metal explosion of 2008-2010 — which produced so many fantastic records — there just haven’t been very many albums put out that’ve really grabbed me, even from some of the genre’s best known bands. It’s as if Liturgy came along, ruined it for everyone, and inspired all black metal musicians to sell their Valnøtt effects pedals on eBay. Now all those same dudes bought Orange amplifiers and are in doom and/or Vest Metal bands, and the state of black metal is pretty weak and generic.

Enter Der We Einer Freiheit (“One Way of Freedom”), a German band (could you have guessed?) who will release their new album Stellar later this spring. DWEF, as we’ll call them, mix a little of the old and the new — there’s plenty of frosty grimness, but there’s also a whole lot of atmosphere, although not in the overly dramatic, shoe-gazey way presented by Deafheaven and the like. They’re phenomenal musicians, too, a quality lacking in so much black metal both old and new. People more tr00 than me will point out that DWEF have been around since 2009 and they’ve released two EPs and two full-lengths since, but they’re just now being exposed to a wider audience through their new deal with Season of Mist.

Are DWEF reinventing the black metal wheel? No, not really, but “Einkehr,” which you can stream below via Lambgoat, is one of the more engaging black metal tracks I’ve heard in years. Check it out and see what you think. Stellar comes out on March 24 via Season Of Mist and be pre-ordered here.