With the release of the MENHIR mini album “Buchonia” a more or less new genre was born and for the worldwide Metal community it could seem that within the last five years every German tree had become the stronghold of at least one Pagan Metal band. The German scene veteran ARATHORN is for sure not a newcomer in this genre and their debut “Niemals krönender als was einst war” is still – even after all these years – a highly ranked underground release. Their new creation after a break of over 10 years is dedicated to the Nibelungen saga and based on this topic it’s not a surprise that “Treue & Verrat” has more in common with the MENHIR and ODROERIR cosmos than their own Black Metal roots. The second ARATHORN album is offering some nice atmospheric parts but in total it’s everything else than an essential release. The main reasons are the weak sound and the lack of new / fresh ideas. Furthermore are the German vocals a very delicate issue – the majority of the vocals must be labeled as spoken passages and not as real vocals and the German lyrics are definitely a matter of love or hate. The use of this old tale as lyrical source deserves my deep respect but ARATHORN latest release is from the musical point of view not in the position to win any battle even with a dragon slayer on their side. www.folter666.de