After a longer break Solefald member Cornelius von Jackhelln finally comes up with a new STURMGEIST album called Manifesto Futurista. Anyone who wasn’t so fond of the combination of Black Metal and Rammstein-esque pounding Electroparts (especially well done on the debut Meister Mephisto - imho) from the two earlier albums, should really give STURMGEIST a second try. Manifesto Futurista comes along in a clearly other musical way. With this album Cornelius/STURMGEIST step onto the path of the avantgardistic movement of Futurism and create music accordingly due to this quote from the original Futuristic Manifest “No work without an aggressive character can be a masterpiece”, resulting in a fierce and pitch-black Black Metal album without any electronic influences and deeply fuelled by anger, hate and the need for upheaval and cataclysm.
Manifesto Futurista offers a plethora of brilliant Black Metal songs, all played on an impressive high level, which absolutely grab the listener with their intensity and a tangible form of passion, rage, aversion and the consequential urge for revolution and renewal, as such turning to the true basic meaning of Black Metal – Rebellion (far away from all wanna be Satan image behavior).
On Manifesto Futurista STURMGEIST make their way through all various styles of Nordic Black Metal and step heavily on the gas but without falling into a dumb speedrace. There are no qualitative deficits to be found here, only some songs which are just even better than the grandiose rest of them. E.g. the thrashing opener Monolith and the furious titletrack Manifesto Futurista, both are true neck-breakers with great catchy and scream-along choruses. The slow and forceful Let Us Be The Suns Of Our Time and the nearly rock-like starting The Siegfried Order (my personal highlight) standing in no way behind and crushing down onto the listener. Fantastic!
There are not many parts on Manifesto Futurista for taking breath but if these moments appear they sound even greater. Ritorno Glorioso is a little masterpiece of bombastic Neo-Classic, while Elegie D’Une Modernite Meurtriere convinces with its slow pace and a menacing atmosphere which is supported by superb clean vocals.
To me Manifesto Futurista is one of the best and most intensive Black Metal albums I have ever listened to and more than definite an album other bands have to compete with from now on. Together with the philosophical force of expression really a true manifest!
Finally I just have to quote the original Futuristic Manifest again as this quotes sums up the essence of this album in a perfect way:
“…we will sing of the multicolored, polyphonic tides of revolution in the modern capitals; we will sing of the vibrant nightly fervor of arsenals and shipyards blazing with violent electric moons; greedy railway stations that devour smoke-plumed serpents; factories hung on clouds by the crooked lines of their smoke; bridges that stride the rivers like giant gymnasts, flashing in the sun with a glitter of knives;…“