As the underground continuously roils and tears through new names hoping to make their impact known, it’s oftentimes the names that have hung back to thrive in relative obscurity that form much of the backbone of what metal has long been heralded for. All too often do these names dwell on the very floor of the underground with their time in the light fleeting at best. Yet there are those that bide their time, building their catalogs, and honing their craft to such a degree that they can begin simply integral to what their sound is known for. Having made their power evident since their 1998 inception, it’s with their seventh album that Schattenvald taps into the old school in glorious form while always marching to their own rhythm.

When you’ve been around for so long, it’s important to shake things up at least a little bit. To do otherwise would be to dance with potential stagnation as ideas become stale, nothing new flows, and you’re left wallowing in what’s been accomplished before rather than seeking to build something even a little bit new. You do not need to reinvent the wheel, but a little bit of sonic exploration can take you quite far. By and large, it’s throughout their forthcoming offering of “Alle Hernach” that Schattenvald adheres to many of the core values of black metal that were laid forth when they were first coming about, but it’s throughout the whole of these forty-six minutes that we’re treated to an unrelentingly cold and somewhat mystic tale from one of the oldest entities of German black metal with the results simply captivating once become lost within Schattenvald’s blizzard-torn wilderness. Telling a local folktale of a 19th century forest prophet, there isn’t so much as a minute of “Alle Hernach” that doesn’t tempt you ever further into that very same forest. The ancient world comes to life through these enchanting riffs while the atmospheres are laid on thick and pervasive to ensure the record has depth as well as reach. It’s clear in each of these seven freezing tracks that know precisely what they’re doing in order to make the overall performance of “Alle Hernach” equal parts striking and undeniably true to the spirit of what black metal was decades ago.

Bands like this can easily feel like a time capsule. Plenty of these bands feel like they could’ve been placed on the shelves of underground record stores in the 80s or 90s and be undeniably at home for all that they channel, yet that can feel reductive for what the band in question achieves. Schattenvald absolutely channeled those classic veins in the crafting of “Alle Hernach”, yet this is a record that has more than earned the right to be hailed as its own creation that offers as much old school splendor as it does a modern mentality. Intelligent black metal that never once corrodes its core values, it’s here that Schattenvald more than proves itself to be a potent and viciously captivating piece.

“Alle Hernach” releases on April 3rd via Solistitium Records!

LISTEN to an advanced track from “Alle Hernach” on Bandcamp here.

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