Rauhnåcht - Zwischenwelten (2025)

One-man show Stefan Traunmüller, brings us today a very piercing and engaging Pagan Black Metal release with his band Rauhnåcht and their fifth full-length release “Zwischenwelten”. Featuring a sound that combines bits and pieces of outfits like Summoning, Enid, and some Falkenbach/Vred sprinkles. With six tracks spanning over 40 minutes, this release creates very regal and engaging melodic soundscapes that are perfect for a frosty winter evening of mild headbanging.

Quickly escalating things with the fierce “Der Spalt zwischen den Welten”, we get fast paced melodic riffing accompanied by tight drumming and an overall regal sense. The raw Black Metal undertones are very well crafted into the more melodic passages and perfectly contrast the dreamy clean vocals onslaughts. While the elements remain the same throughout this release, this outfit does a great job in re-arranging them to create entertaining tracks like “Letzter Pfad”, and the ritualistic “Das Mark des Lebens”.

We particularly enjoy more the introspective pieces that have a bigger balance of melody and atmosphere like “Eines Tages seid ihr frei” and its crafty atmospherics and “Naturgewalten” with its repetitive melodies alongside ravaging onslaughts of harsh vocals and pummeling guitars. The release closes with the whirlwind “Alleinsamkeit”, a very crafty long song that is quite epic in nature, reminding us of outfits like Himinbjörg.

As a whole, “Zwischenwelten” is a very well rounded and expertly crafted and polished release. Rauhnåcht crafts its own unique sound while still delivering what is traditionally expected from the genre. Keeping things interesting and engaging for over 40 minutes is something that only a few Pagan Black Metal bands achieve, as the traditional repetitiveness of the genre sometimes gets to the listener, but luckily for us, this album has no problem overcoming. Check this one out if you are in the mood for highly melodic and atmospheric music, with a touch of raw harshness.

Label: Antiq Records

Release: August 1st, 2025

Genre: Pagan Black Metal

Country: Austria