HEINRICHREICH – Druid

A year has passed since the Slovakian / Irish oriented Black Metal artist unleashed his last creation with the Belgian Taranis. Jorg Heinrich’s, a.k.a. Heinrichreich, debut release follows the same ideas, such as folklore stories of both Irish and Slavic cultures, that existed, in portions, on the Split album. Heinrich has taken steps to ensure that Druid‘s atmosphere of lore would channel its magic to any listener. In comparison to his early material, Jorg did a better job on the production, yet there are still various issues, which need to be resolved.

With all of Heinrich’s efforts on perfecting his own new production, aspects such as the inconsistent mixing and mastering were somewhat ignored. All throughout the release Heinrich is demonstrating tryouts of his work. It’s like he didn’t check the whole release before sending it out for printing. Aside from the instrumental tracks such as “Cill an Disirt” “, which is considered to be the best composition in the release, other tracks such as “Blut und Boden”, “Samhain” and “Slavic Feast” offer proof of that inconsistency. The bass levels are almost different between the tracks, the guitar’s volume sometimes is being swallowed by the keyboards and flute.

Another issue that is solely connected to the production is the guitar’s sound. It is highly known that Black Metal guitars are trebled and thin, however, on Druid the guitar is way too thin and that can indicate why the bass, in a song like “Castles in The Neslusa Forest”, seems to overcome it. On Immortal’s Heart Of Winter, the guitar is also trebled as it is on this release, nevertheless you can feel its depth (with the bass’ aid and without it).

Putting Druid’s sound problems aside, all who enjoy Folk / Black Metal music will like this release. The music is mixed with both raw Black Metal energy that is provided with the known blackish melodic trills of frost and with folk signatures such as the charming flute, made by Heinrich’s wife . Let’s not forget the astonishing keyboard work made by Heinrich himself. The vocal section, similar to most of the Old School Black Metal music, is a bit raw yet there is a chance of making something out of it. Fans of the early Black Metal and Folk acts such as Immortal and Falkenbach will find this one interesting.

The album offers more solid tracks than highlights, better to say, it offers several great moments rather than full enjoyable tracks. “Immortal March”, “Dying Emotions”, “The Legend Of The Banshee” – are great examples for more than just the average tracks, they are full of morbidity yet in rare cases channel out chilling softness. “Castles in The Neslusa Forest”, “Samhain” and “Blut Und Boden” – all are solid tracks which offer some great moments alongside less favored ones. Finally there are the enchanting instrumentals, which are Heinrich’s best works, “Cill an Disirt” and “An Gorta Mor” – Within the depths of Druid you will have a closer look into ancient legends that scour the vast lands of green Ireland and Slovakia (Prepare your travel tickets).