adg211288 Single musician black metal acts seem to a dime a dozen these days. This may be a good thing as some of the best black metal albums I've heard in recent years came from one musician 'groups'. Het Gebeente (2017) is the second album release by Belgian one-man black metal act Ande. The project of Jimmy Christiaens, the album is a follow-up to Licht (2015).

My first thought upon starting up Het Gebeente was that Burzum hadn't existed in vain. There are some striking similarities in style used here, right down to the vocals. Compared to Burzum's intentionally minimalist style I do find that on Het Gebeente Ande is incorporating more ideas which results in something that sounds a bit more direct with more discernible riffs. Another similarity between the two though is that Ande, like Burzum, opted to include an ambient track on the album in the form of the closing Uittrede.

While the bulk of the album is fairly passable black metal work I have to say that it's the ambient track that I'm most drawn to here as it suddenly shows off another side to what has up until that point proven to be a fairly one dimensional album. I think I'd like to have heard it used a bit more, especially in conjunction with Ande's black metal tracks. I expect that the music would have been more interesting that way. Right now it seems as if Ande isn't sure if it wants to be a more traditionally styled black metal act or an atmospheric black metal act. Again that's not unlike Burzum's early classics that showcase atmospheric black metal developing as a genre. But of course with Het Gebeente we're instead talking about an album that came out over two decades after Burzum classics like Hvis lyset tar oss (1994) and Filosofem (1996) so instead of pioneering the impression it leaves me with instead is lacking a coherent identity. That's the passage of time and context for you I guess.

It's a decent effort from Ande though, one that shows off a few good riffs and ideas here and there but just like the one member black metal act in itself is a dime a dozen so are releases like Het Gebeente. The average ones that are listenable, even enjoyable, but don't leave a lasting impression in any way.