Terminus Episode 101 - Vergeblichkeit, White Rune

It's been a laborious path, surely, but Terminus is back on track as TBMG and TDMG reunite after a long departure from one another. Creative differences? Lover's quarrel? Nothing so interesting as that. What's important is that we're back to the Terminus you know and love, autistically criticizing unknown records for the pleasure of equally autistic listeners. T-shirts in the back.

First up is the return of Vergeblichkeit, whose last record we covered in the very first episode of 2021. The new release features the same general ingredients of gothic (black?) metal, but arranged differently, with a greater emphasis on dissonance, burly riffing, and structural complexity. This album lacks much of the immediate, catchy, gothic melodies of its predecessor, but it more than makes up for it in complexity, nervous energy, and sheer, metallic weight.

On the back half we tackle the debut record by White Rune, a Finnish project which endeavors to restore the glory the now-rusted concept of symphonic black metal. Drawing from Finnish contemporaries as well as the more youthful efforts of bands like Cradle of Filth or Hecate Enthroned, the result is a record of catchy melodies and epic overtures that nonetheless allows the grit and weight of the Finnish style to penetrate every note. NO KEYBOARDS, NO FEMALE VOCALS- well, maybe we can start making an exception for one of those.

0:00:00 - Intro

0:06:59 - Vergeblichkeit - Unnahbar Dein (Independent)

0:49:56 - Interlude - Stahlhammer - “Messerschmied” fr. Feind hört mit (Nuclear Blast, 1999)

0:56:11 - White Rune - Dawn of the White Rune (Hammer of Hate Records)

1:52:28 - Outro - Cradle of Filth - “Beneath the Howling Stars” fr. Cruelty and the Beast (Music for Nations, 1998)

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