German-sung Black Metal? Uh, no thank you. I am having some troubles to understand the German language (especially when it’s been sung entirely by using Black Metal type of shrieks and stuff) as my German ain’t in that good shape anymore, you know. Or, wait a sec… this stuff should not make any difference from some Swedish-sung Black Metal, or Norwegian-sung Black Metal, or Malaysian-sung Black Metal for that matter really. Let’s give this a fair try instead of throwing this disc immedately on the top of that unfortunate ever-growing mountain of not-for-me albums that all could be considered as true disgraces for Metal music. "Lebensweisen" is this Munich-based, German NEBELKRÄHE’s 2nd full-length outing, conceptually dealing with different ways of life as has been told on the info kit for this disc. As for the music itself, this stuff proves to be far away from your typical, grim and primitive Norse-sounding Black Metal. NEBELKRÄHE have chosen such a musical side path for themselves on "Lebensweisen" that sets them apart from the mainstream, most typical formula of Black Metal. Sure thing, Black Metal this stuff is also, but such elements as avantgarde and progressiveness have both a very strong emphasis on the way how NEBELKRÄHE bring their Black Metal out into the daylight. Call this avantgarde and progressive Black Metal that doesn’t even try to follow musically any of the current, most acceptable ‘hot trends’ in today’s Metal scene. NEBELKRÄHE’s use of very unorthodox ingredients for Black Metal have made it possible for them to come up with a relatively unique sounding record that is both demanding and provocative content-wise, and surely requires a very right state of mind when giving the album a concentrated listen. It’s full of some disharmonious and contrarious elements that true Black Metal purists would never touch even – not even by a long stick. Besides over one hour of the band’s ‘not-so-easy-listen’ Black Metal may turn out to be a desperately long ride for some, unless you are not prepared your mind in advance for a receptive enough mood. With the right state of mind the album’s got lotsa to offer however, no doubts. For example a song called ‘Ebenbürdig’, which is the last song on this record, managed to fill me up with different moods, the song being sorrowful and beautiful at one minute – and then like almost all of a sudden, turning to an attacking beast type of song, craving for some fresh blood. In other words, kind of like the final summa-summarum about "Lebensweisen", if you are looking for quite a different Black Metal for change, this could well be the kind of album you might want to push your nose into. For further info, by all means sneak yourself into: www.facebook.com/nebelkraeheofficial, label: www.mightymusic.dk