When it comes to one man bands (more accurately, projects) I’m usually unimpressed. The songwriting and the extreme egotism of such projects makes for a depressingly boring experience. I have to say that with RAUHNÅCHT things are different. For one thing the record sounds good and the instruments are played well. Live drumming is always better than a machine! The songs are alright, in particular the title track ‘Urzeitgeist’ has some beautiful melodies. However, though I enjoy the musicianship, this is a style of Black Metal of which I had my fill a while back. I’m simply not very moved by open-string, 2nd wave Black Metal chords which are, as we have heard recited a hundred thousand times, inspired by BURZUM and DARKTHRONE etc. This project has all of that, plus some keyboards here and there which is something EMPEROR and LIMBONIC ART can pull off reasonably well if you’re a fan of that style. But to these ears it created a dichotomous atmosphere. One side is majestic cold riffs, the other is festive, up-beat sounding patterns. I think there are some cool moments on this album – a good riff here, a nice sounding folk thing there – but with the overall generic arrangements I’m not too impressed. With so many other bands like this I wonder what the point is. But that shouldn’t stop you from checking this out. I am, after all, only a disembodied voice speaking to you. For all further information check out www.alpineblackmetal.at, www.facebook.com/pages/rauhnacht/174849439232330 or www.hammerheart.com