Review Summary: Beyond the walls of night, only good things await.
Grimrik is, on paper, a fairly new project, being founded in 2014 by a reclusive German musician who goes by the same monicker when playing drums and keyboards in underground black metal/dungeon synth outfit Arath, founded in 2011. The man behind it, however, is no newcomer to music, having been active in the underground German metal scene since 1994 and having released in 1996 one of the first albums in the style known today as dungeon synth. Faithful to the old school tradition of crossbreeding black metal with dark ambient, Grimrik plays dark and atmospheric electronic music; Die Mauern der Nacht (German for "the walls of night") is his sophomore album, following his first effort, Eisreich, which created quite a stir in the underground black metal and dungeon synth communities.
The album is meant as a single 44:04 minutes long piece of music, divided into 13 tracks which define three distinct chapters, or movements; while this can be putting off casual listeners, it proves rewarding for those willing to go all the way long. As it unfolds, Die Mauern der Nacht reveals a compelling amount of variety: the compositions show a lot of lessons have been learned from such electronic music pioneers as
Jean-Michel Jarre,
Tangerine Dream and
Vangelis, incorporating influences from a number of different electronic genres in the process; the permeating dark, mystical feel makes early
Enigma come to mind, while several passages, such as the centerpiece "Im Freien Fall", nod to poppier styles like synthwave and trance. This is music meant to take the listener's mind along a journey through differently contemplative moods, and it completely succeeds in doing so, achieving the arduous task of keeping interest high throughout the whole album. The overall sound is very deep and atmospheric, almost entirely based on retro-flavoured synths and packed with subtle nuances for added richness and texture, which require repeated listens to be fully appreciated.
This kind of extreme care for detail also shows in mixing and mastering, as every sound sits comfortably along each other, coming off as a painstakingly balanced crystal-clear blend; the same effort has been put in the design department, featuring highly detailed conceptual artwork all over the CD Digipak and the Bandcamp artist page, courtesy of Dan Capp (Burzum) and Grimrik himself.
In a nutshell, this is a masterfully crafted, engaging yet slowly unwinding epic album. For this reason, it will be a letdown to casual listeners expecting immediate satisfaction; committed listeners, electronic music lovers and fans of mystical, contemplative music, though, will find a demanding yet extremely rewarding experience.
