GORLEBEN’s second album “Menetekel” was released in October 2025 by Darkness Shall Rise Productions and could be described simply as Post Metal, but this somehow feels like it isn’t doing justice to the many different aspects of their style. It seems like the band took the term literally and just tried to create music that goes beyond what you would expect from a Metal album, or maybe it’s meant as a museum of sorts in a post humanity future where they tried to explain the many facets of Metal music to someone (or something) who’s never heard it before. You’ll notice that “Menetekel” runs for about 43 minutes and a half, but there are only four songs. They could have easily made an album with 10 different songs using the ideas from these four, but it would probably sound disjointed and only connected by the general theme of the album, something like an AYREON concept album where the movements in the general piece are kept separate. Here they exist in the same song and they absolutely make sense. Because of this you could describe this album as being Progressive Metal or even operatic. These are all some aspects of the music presented here, but there are also some more specific themes that can be considered a foundation upon which everything else is built. There is a general use of slow tempos and at times even mid tempos, suggesting Doom Metal and Post Punk themes. Keys are prevalent in many segments of the songs and the guitars, besides the slow Doom Metal riffs, sometimes use dissonance in a way that might suggest some sort of Black Metal, my guess is the Depressive Suicidal sort. The tones used are pretty mellow, the music mostly being abrasive though its use of dissonance, rather than punching you in the face with its loudness. And even this dissonance is very rarely deployed, the music having a general vibe of nostalgic melodicism. There are mainly two types of vocals, both harsh and used in a sort of duet, but also some emotional shouting and even clean vocals at times. All of this leads to thinking of a certain era in the ’90s when the Death and Black Metal bands started experimenting with other styles such as Post Punk and Shoegaze and eventually inventing the Gothic Metal and Gothic Doom styles. “Meneketel” could very well be a lost album by an unknown contemporary or imitator of a band like ANATHEMA or KATATONIA. It could also be an experimentation in the more obscure genre known as Dark Metal, named after GORLEBEN’s compatriots BETHLEHEM, which also combines Doom Metal with Black Metal. If all this seems interesting, I suggest you sit comfortably and let GORLEBEN slowly float you through this journey of an album. www.facebook.com/gorlebenuran236, www.facebook.com/darknessshallriseproductions