Reader Submission: Animo Aeger: Fieber

Well after reviewing the full-length Impuls, I was actually kind of excited to listen to Animo Aeger's follow-up. This is just an EP but it still clocks in at nearly 40 minutes.

This one kicks off with a bang. The first track is significantly faster and more aggressive than anything off the prior album. In general, there are more faster tracks on this release. There are still some slower atmospheric tracks, but the band has become more aggressive generally.

Another major change from the last album to this is the use of clean vocals. This was a big surprise because the shrieking vocals fit in so well on the band's prior material. The vocals are occasionally layered with the clean, almost spoken vocals over the top of the shrieking or some roaring death metal-style vocals. The clean vocals can be a little off-putting at times. Sometimes they work well, but others they are a little irritating.

On a brighter note, the production on the first several tracks has improved, though it was not really a problem on the full-length. This is due to Animo Aeger recording them in a real studio this time around. Beyond that, there are a couple of leftover rehearsal room tracks tacked on to this thing.

Overall, this is not really bad, but I did not care for it quite as much as the previous album. The vocals got kind of grating after awhile and that really drove it down in my opinion.

Reader Submission: Animo Aeger: Impuls

I read a review on this album prior to listening to it to get a general idea of what to expect. The review discussed this as being a depressive black metal band, but I am not really seeing much of that. Sure there are some elements here and there, but the album as a whole is much too active. It is not nearly morose enough to really be depressive black metal. None of that is to suggest that this band is the next coming of Immortal. The music is typically slower-paced and more atmospheric, but with some decent riffs thrown in here and there. It is a very dark album.

The vocals are the main draw here. The vocalist Graasjal emits agonizing and tortured screams for the better part of the album. Every once in awhile he can pull off a Tom Warrior-esque grunt, but he typically does not stray far from the aforementioned shrieking, which serves him well and fits the music.

Some of the songs on the album actually sound a bit more like Norwegian black metal. There is a lot of Mayhem evident in these songs. "The Box" is the best example of this. Other songs feature some surprisingly chilling guitar leads. The lead in "Den Laufstall Zu Brechen..." is spine-tingling.

Overall, this is a pretty decent album. It definitely has a cold and chilling atmosphere, and there is some surprisingly good riffing. It was not what I was expecting, it was better.