It never ceases to amaze me, the strange sounds the genre of black metal takes on. URFAUST may just be one of the most different black metal bands I have cast my ears upon. Hailing from the Netherlands, this two man band took form in 1999. IX:Einsiedler is their seventh official release. Though it is only a two song EP, I hear they are making a full length to be released in the not so distant future.

Though I thought it was a mistake at first… how can an EP just contain two songs? These are two of the most diverse black metal songs ever. I can’t help but to listen to the track IX: Der Einsiedler over and over again. The music may carry a basic ingredient of minimal changes, but it’s the over laying textures of guitar and a surprise spooky organ solo in the middle that captivates me. This song sounds like it’s from outer space. It is overtly tripped out and trance inducing. The lyrics are virtually unintelligible. Tortured screams mostly. It meshes well with this type of music. The drums are very simplistic, the beat doesn’t change much, there are some fills, and when you think it is going to change the course of the song, you are wrong, as it carries on in the same pattern as before. Abruptly it ends after twelve entrancing minutes. We are then taken into a somber atmosphere with Verderber. The melancholy guitar riff and sorrowful screams grow intensely. I do wonder if these songs were totally improvised in the studio. Sometimes a band can really capture the magic this way. Other times they seem unsure of where they are going with the song. This is not really a bad thing, as experimentalism can produce some of the best music. There is something truly dark and haunting about the music of URFAUST that is a sure thing. For the most part URFAUST is as ambient and experimental as you can get within the realms of black metal.