Neue Deutsche Härte Heart with a Black Metal Soul - A Review of Roth's Nachtgebete

Michael Roth, also known as Blutkehle, is a singer who has been involved in many bands and projects in the German extreme metal scene throughout the past two and a half decades. He is the singer of controversial gothic black metal band Eisregen whose releases have been under scrutiny by German governmental institutions due to some explicit lyrics about morbid topics. Eisblut is similar in style regarding the lyricism as it deals with cannibalism, death and necrophilia while the music reminds however of traditional death metal. Goat Funeral shows a more occult side with English lyrics while the musicianship is based upon pitiless black metal. In the past, Michael Roth has also been involved in gothic metal project Marienbad that sadly only released one single album thus far and obscure short-lived black metal project Panzerkreutz. Michael Roth has also had a few guest performances for electronic gothic metal band Ewigheim.

Roth is a very interesting new project for the fifty-year old singer for two reasons. First of all, this is a collaboration between Michael Roth and his son Quentin. His son wrote most of the lyrics while the father is of course responsible for the vocals. Secondly, this is Michael Roth's most melodic project to date as this project can be described as Neue Deutsche Härte band, meandering somewhere between industrial rock and gothic metal. The material is similar to the music of Ewigheim with whom the singer has collaborated on a few occasions in the past.

The guitar play is more melodic than usual but still features a few heavy riffs on the thin line between rock and metal genres. The rhythm section is quite variable with slow, mid-paced and fast sections that are cleverly combined. The electronic elements are much stronger in this band than in all other aforementioned bands and projects. They give the more sinister tunes a creepy atmosphere while the less depressing songs have almost danceable sections. The vocals are variable as well. Michael Roth often sings in a low but melodic manner that is quite catchy but he also shifts towards more narrative passages with exaggerated pronounciation and towards his black metal origins that give some songs blistering energy. As you can read, Roth's Nachtgebete is his most creative, diversified and memorable release to date that entertains very well through twelve songs and forty-seven minutes. As if that weren't enough, this release's special edition includes a second disc with four exclusive tunes that would have deserved spots on the regular edition as well and increase the total running time to a generous sixty-one minutes.

At the end of the day, fans of any of the aforementioned bands can't get around Roth's very good debut album Nachtgebete. This release should appeal to fans of industrial rock and gothic metal alike. The sixteen songs are thoroughly entertaining without any significant ups and downs. If you are looking for one hour of sinister entertainment with melodic metal music and morbid German lyrics, Roth's Nachtgebete offers exactly what you have been craving. This kind of record manages to exteriorize negative emotions in difficult times to cleanse the soul and make you smile optimistically again. Let's hope that this isn't just a one-off project and that other releases will be following in the upcoming years.

Final Rating: 80%