Review: Coltaine ‘Brandung’
There are many bands that gain inspiration from their surroundings, some of which spawn a whole scene, I’m thinking of California’s Palm Desert, and the whole desert rock scene. So, when I started listening to Germany’s Coltaine, it didn’t surprise me when I learnt they came from the Black Forest area of the country.
The music they produce is steeped in atmospheric, melancholic, post-rock splendour, as they delve into their shadowy native habitat and produce nine songs that drag you into their world. Starting with a haunting chant that reverberates around a whistling sound, the soft and gentle Tiefe Wasser leads you by the hand into Memories Of Ice.
If their aim is to put the listener into some sort of hypnotic state, then they are bang on course to achieve it. The vocals from Julia Frasch are beautiful in the most beguiling of ways, and when the intensity levels are upped during Keep Me Down In The Deep, it doesn’t detract from their aspired aims of evocative and dynamic music. However, it’s the next two songs that impress me the most. With Moritz Berg on guitar, Benedikt Berg on bass and drummer Amin Bouzeghaia taking control, Black Coral and Wirbelwind are two epic soundscapes. Full of mystique and wonder, with the latter adding a hint of despair and heartache in the vocal scream.
Full of mystique and wonder…
After those two shorter songs, they go further into the psychic world with Above The Burning Sand, and following an intriguing opening, it veers off into a different direction, with a droning guitar ahead of the emerging melancholy tones of Frasch. Maelstrom screams tension and drama, as you are pulled into the dense, dark forest, all whilst being enchanted like one of the many Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales.
The album title track, Brandung explodes into life like a firework in the moonlit sky, and I didn’t anticipate what would happen with the vocal, as a growl emerges in the most ethereal of ways. This is perhaps the most progressive of the tracks as it’s split into two parts (I honestly thought it had ended halfway through), but it re-emerges to pierce your heart again with a soul-stirring vocal. Final track, Solar Veil is shorter, but still poignant and powerful in its delivery, and it leads me to the thought that in the world of post-doom, Coltaine are up there producing some of the very best in the genre.
Label: Lay Bare Recordings
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Matthew Williams
