Uprising - III (2024)

Spawned as a side project from Jan van Berlekom mastermind of Waldgeflüster, this release delivers a swift and brutal onslaught of fierce Black Metal. With over 40 minutes of music, “III” unleashes six tracks of fierce music with a certain Uada/Mgła edge and crafty atmospherics. If you are a fan of uncompromising and yet well crafted and melodic BM, this is an interesting release to check out.

Opening the release we have the oppressive guitar of “Eternal Mantra”, a fierce track that sets the tone for this high-octane and engaging release. As the crafty drums weave intricate patterns within the songs, we noticed that Austin Lunn (Panopticon) is actually performing them in this release, with tracks like “Uprise III” and “Raise a Glass” having interesting and engaging tempos. We appreciate that while the music is well polished, there are some experimental elements and melodic passages thrown into the mix to keep things interesting.

Perfectly blending harsh snarls with a hectic pace, “A Message to the Hypocrites” is definitely one of our favorite tracks. However, if we had to pick just one, we would take “While the World Is Burning” and its engaging combination of melodic riffs with crafty lead guitars. Jan van Berlekom keeps things interesting with a wide variety of catchy riffs and tempo changes, masterfully wrapped around a killer production that gives a raw, yet polished vibe.

Closing with the crushing “Brace Yourself”, we are quite pleasantly surprised as to the quality of this release. As a different outlet than Waldgeflüster, this band has a more vicious edge, thanks to the razor sharp guitars and fierce vocals. There is also a Machine Head cover on a different version of this release, we didn’t get that one for review, so there is an extra bonus for the listener. Overall, solid Black Metal release for any fan of the genre that is looking for some new bands to add to their rotation.

Label: AOP Records

Release: July 19th, 2024

Genre: Black Metal

Country: Germany