BRANIKALD — To Kampf (review)

BRANIKALD — To Kampf album cover Demo · 1995 · Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Vehemency
Branikald is undoubtedly the finest child of Blazebirth Hall along with Forest. The band is known for its repetitive black metal with very raw production, provided by around ten releases during the 90s. The second album (or demo), To Kampf, is no exception and it’s definitely not the easiest Branikald release to get into.

To Kampf contains five tracks of which only two are proper black metal songs (”By the Breath of the Murder” and ”With the Only Eye”) though they’re both around the 10-minute mark. The production is utterly low fidelity but you can still hear the main instruments (guitar, drums and vocals) clear enough. I would recommend headphones, though, otherwise To Kampf might sound a total mess with no point at all. Anyhow, the two tracks contain noble and evil sounding riffs with even some clean vocals (which, however, don’t try to be anything sweet exactly, so don’t expect something Alcest-like). The tracks sound like they were recorded outside somewhere in forests at night time and this is exactly one of Branikald’s best features, because no other band can create exactly this kind of atmosphere. Twisted, dark, cold and trance-inducing in the Blazebirth Hall way.

Guitar-only interlude ”Painest Sea a Kosmfarne” brings the rawness to another level, but still remaining audible and it is surprisingly melancholic piece, belonging to the standout tracks along with ”With the Only Eye”. Intro and outro consist of an out-of-tune piano which fits to the eerie nature of the album. The outro goes for almost 9-minutes which might be a bit too long, but after all, To Kampf runs just for 36 minutes so it never feels too prolonged.

To Kampf is by no means an easy bite to digest. It’s also not the finest output of Branikald, but it’s still a succesful Branikald release and should not be missed by Blazebirth Hall fans.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Repulsive Forms Sludge Metal
UMA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Voidkind Sludge Metal
DVNE
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Road to Oblivion Progressive Metal
DYSCORDIA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Legacy of Morfuidra Power Metal
COVENTHRALL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Oneironautics Power Metal
MAD HATTER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

In Sulfur - The Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) 2022
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 9 hours ago
In Sulfur - Parasite (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 9 hours ago
In Sulfur - Abysmal Grave (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO)
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 9 hours ago
In Sulfur - Windchaser(OFFICIAL VIDEO)
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 9 hours ago
In Sulfur - From Green/To Grey (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 9 hours ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed