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Schattenfall – Oh Wind, mein Bruder EP (review)

Filipe Gomes 25/03/2025 Comments Off

Vladimir Bauer’s (ex-White Ward) Schattenfall project is back with another release. This time “Oh Wind, mein Bruder”, a fantastic three-track EP that distills a potent blend of atmospheric ferocity and poetic introspection. Currently residing in Germany, Bauer continues to refine his signature sound—a marriage of raw black metal intensity carried by fantastic riffs and layered emotional expression.

The title track unfolds as an eight-minute odyssey, featuring introductory clean guitar arpeggios that quickly are swallowed by the harsh guitar tone and abrasive vocals constructing a scaffold for dynamic shifts in rhythm and mood. The track takes its time to tell its story, after a sudden pause that breaks the track’s momentum, introducing a blistering riff that gives way to an unmerciful blastbeat which later ends up in doom-laden tempos. As time goes by, you get this feeling of “I’ve heard this riff before”, yet you have not, as the riffs on this EP transpire such influence from the late 90’s black metal that it turns into a nostalgic journey. This somewhat familiar structural volatility mirrors the EP’s thematic core: a struggle between despair and resilience, underscored by lyrics drawn from poems by Ukrainian poets Ivan Franko and Volodymyr Sosiura. Tracks like Unterwürfige Schönheit des Sterbens further explore this duality, juxtaposing melodic undercurrents with epic discordant guitar work that teeters on the edge of dissonance, challenging listeners to find resolve amid sonic chaos.

Innovation emerges through unexpected instrumental choices. The closing piece, Einsamkeit VIII, features a mournful flute performed by Yevhen Tankovskyi, backed by noise, a juxtaposition that dissolves fleeting moments of beauty into waves of abrasive texture. Such experimentation is anchored by Yurii Zabelin’s production, which preserves the genre’s raw ethos while allowing intricate layers—searing tremolo picking riffs that go from furious to epic, melodic and atmospheric, backed by thunderous drum patterns that might throw you off balance with their approach to the song.

Contextualized within Schattenfall’s discography, Oh Wind, mein Bruder builds on the foundation of 2024’s Death’s Eternal March, yet distinguishes itself through concision. Clocking in under 20 minutes, this EP is “all killer, no filler” and defies black metal’s tendency toward sprawling compositions, proving that depth need not sacrifice brevity. There is a noticeable maturation in Bauer’s approach: where earlier works relied on unrelenting aggression, this release prioritizes narrative cohesion, transforming each track into a chapter of a larger, interconnected saga.

In an era where atmospheric black metal risks stagnation, Schattenfall’s latest effort reaffirms the genre’s capacity for reinvention. By melding traditional tropes—harsh vocals, tremolo-driven melodies—with unconventional textures and poetic depth, Bauer crafts a work that transcends geographical and stylistic boundaries. Oh Wind, mein Bruder not only solidifies Schattenfall’s position as a vanguard of modern black metal but also signals an artist unafraid to evolve, ensuring his music remains as unpredictable as it is immersive.

Oh Wind, mein Bruder feels strangely familiar yet fresh and captivating, and leaves a thirst for more in the listener.