MEIN WORT IN DEINER DUNKELHEIT

If you think you've heard it all as far as progressive metal genres, think again. This is real avantgarde progressive metal for all of the pan heads out there. I have listened to a lot of progressive metal over this past year being on the prog metal team, but sometimes I have to actually express my opinion about an artist that I think is cutting edge and rises above the typical artist in the over-saturated world of progressive metal lately.

Rainer Landfermann has lent his vocals to a few extreme bands in the past, but never have we heard him at his full potential as we do in his only solo album to date. Everyone is most likely familiar with the crazy vocal antics of Mike Patton in his work with Faith No More, John Zorn, Fantomas and a whole host of other projects, right? I thought it would be hard to think of anyone that has such a wild and dynamic voice as Patton does, that is until I heard Rainer. In "Mein Wort in Deiner Dunkelheit", Landfermann's debut solo album, Rainer uses his voice in ways that will make your ears melt and your brain explode. Even just listening to one track on this crazy album will leave you speechless, and that can be both good and bad.

Many listeners will not be able to handle Rainer's vocals, I understand that. The thing is, not only is he a dramatic, dynamic and just totally not-of-this-world vocalist, but he can play the bass like it is his own appendage. The instrumentation on this album is stupendous, and, even if you can't handle the crazy vocals, you should still listen to this album for the music alone. This album flows from ambient piano passages to chorale singing to lounge jazz to extreme avant-garde metal in a split second, and sometimes it mixes the various genres to some really amazing outcomes.

This music is 100% avant garde, let's get that out in the open right away. That too might turn some prospective listeners off. However, remember this is progressive music, and if there is any artist out there where everyone would have to agree is experimental metal, then this would be it. Yes there are passages of extreme tech metal here, but not to the extent that you might think. Although, this is going to be extremely difficult to put this musical experience to words, I'm going to try to take you through the tracks of this album so that maybe you can understand just how varied and dynamic it is. If you are listening along as you read the descriptions, well, just get ready to be blown away, for better or worse, depending on your take on it all.

Langsam, hinters Licht - A lovely, smooth bass line plays under Landermann's insane vocals which start out as a dark whisper and soon escalate into crazy, emotional insanity. Along with the nice bass line are some wild drums and feedlback along with almost symphonic instrumentation that definitely spreads freely into avant-prog territory without a problem. The male choral behind it all gives it that somber mood that is needed to ground it all.

Kunstvoll - The instrumentation here is much more extreme, but not to the point that you don't hear the progressive aspects. Maniacal vocals soar and swoop into crazy highs and lows unlike anything you have heard. The vocals are angry as all get out, but the music itself veers in and out of insanity like a thirteen-legged centipede. The multi- tracked male chorus is there again, but this time they don't even try to ground anything to sanity. At 4 minutes, there is a sudden turn to ambient as a solo piano takes over for a while, but soon outburst from the vocals and from heavy guitars rain down upon the entire scenario, and a blistering guitar solo will amaze you.

Vertieft - A wall of guitar and the male chorus bring you as close to accessible as you can expect to come here before the drama of Rainer's vocals rip through your ears. So much for anything being typical here. But wait until you hear that crazy bass backed up by the full multi-tracked choir. Don't listen to closely though, there is the danger of returning vocals frying your earlobes off.

Wir fehlen alle - So you may be wondering what it would sound like if Rainer sung a ballad. The beginning of this track may answer your question. Don't expect anything typical here though, you won't get it. This slow, dirge-like track marches forward like a bunch of drunk ogres screaming for vengeance. The mix of near-ambient synth sections and sudden outbursts of double forte explosions leave you wondering where things will go, but another lovely bass line act as a foundation for vocal craziness on the 2nd half of the track.

Schneller als Sehnsucht, Grö�er als Eins - This is the closest to your typical tech/extreme prog music on the album. Rapid fire drums and walls of guitar back up the vocals here, and the running bass that ebbs and flows here will suck you quickly into this miasma of sound. Halfway through, though, it all returns to avant madness again with screams and yells that only seem stranger when you add in the crazy choir effects.

Intuition - A nice ambient piano and bass start it all off, then a slow beat plods along taking it all forward. Growls, whispers, screams, and drama come along later, then an organ takes the place of the piano. A combination of growling and yelling soon take this into extreme territory, but then the sudden break in with an electric piano plays above the wall of guitars turning it all into a sick, avant jazz metal affair, which soon drops off a soft section, and then back to extreme metal again.

Hingabe - A shorter track that is a study in major extremes from lounge jazz to avant metal and all the vocal types that come with it.

Genius Drang - Wow, kind of funky metal, not something I expected to open up this track. As it continues, it explores all of the colors of the metal spectrum, including chamber folk metal, all in a matter of 3 minutes. Again, the male chorale is an excellent touch.

Ursprüngliches - A lovely piano and slow jazz beat act as a flowing foundation that supports some spoken word and a nice smooth, male chorus singing. Even though this track is more laidback and features the lovely piano behind it all, Rainer still uses his extreme vocals. This is probably the most accessible of the tracks, but that really means very little here.

Mein Wort in Deiner Dunkelheit - A symphonic, metal sounding background with those crazy vocals is what starts it all off, but then it soon mellows out with piano chords. By now, you know that nothing is going to stay in one place too long.

So, I have to say that as far as what I have heard since I have been on the progressive metal team, that this is one of the most original and dynamic albums that I have heard. I do have problems with some of the growling and screaming of the vocals, but it's not that bad after hearing it a few times. Again, to best prepare yourself for this album, think of some of Mike Patton's craziest work, and you might get a good idea of what you are in for, at least as far as the vocals are concerned. Everything else in the instrumentation is just top notch. The vocals, for me, tend to take this down from 5 to 4 stars, and sometimes they are a bit overused, but, over time, this could easily change to 5 stars.