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ColdWorld - Melancholie² review



Reviewer:
8.9

140 users:
8.4
Band: ColdWorld
Album: Melancholie²
Release date: March 2008


01. A Dream Of A Dead Sun
02. Tortured By Solitude
03. Winterreise
04. Schmerzensschreie
05. Red Snow
06. Stille
07. Hymn To Eternal Frost
08. My Dead Bride
09. Escape

As someone who has a flat zero in musical talent and ability, my admiration for great musicians is all that greater. The ability to capture emotions, paint landscapes or portray seasons via instruments deserves respect even if the author is a self-contradicting, hypocritical, pretentious douchebag. By no means is the mastermind behind the one-man ColdWorld a douche, but even if he were, he would have to be the biggest a-hole on this planet for me not to worship him after hearing Melancholie².

Try to imagine taking the longest, loneliest walk on the snowiest, coldest winter day. Feel the smell of that fresh, perfectly white snow. Observe the flakes gently falling, carried by the icy cold breeze. Lead-heavy, grey skies above you, and the seemingly infinite white below you. Faint silhouettes in the distance and quiet voices calling you, urging you to keep moving when all you want to do is just drop in the snow and end it all... This gives a faint, incomplete idea about the journey that Melancholie² takes you on.

Preventing this review from turning into a cryptic piece of prose poetry, I'll explain what makes this album such a powerful atmosphere invoker. Melancholie² is a leaf originating from the tree we nowadays call ambient black metal. While one might argue that this particular style is tired and overcrowded by teenage bedroom "musicians", Melancholie² colossally towers above them all, not because of any brilliant innovations, but because of the near-perfect execution and overflowing passion that was put into every second of the album.

Extremely fuzzy guitars evoke the mood through lethargic, icy cold melodies, often followed by background keyboards giving the sound that extra drop in temperature and sometimes even taking the main spotlight. Shrieking vocals are buried deeper in the mix, treated as just another instrument, creating the illusion of whispering voices mentioned above. Even the mournful violin hops in occasionally, such as on the mind-blowing "Tortured by Solitude". Some completely ambient tracks performed by a single keyboard (somewhat similar to Burzum) like "Winterreise"are one of the crucial components of the continual chilling flow of the album. Finally, forgetting to mention separately the utter depression juggernaut, the brilliant opener and quite possibly most beautiful, stunning track "Hymn To Eternal Frost" (where the violin once more makes an appearance) would be a crime.

The only reason why I'm not giving Melancholie² a full 9, a score reserved only for the greatest, monumental achievements from any genre, is the final track which, while certainly not bad, is a rather poor way to close an album like this. After 8 tracks of oozing brilliance, I was expecting a colossal finisher but "Escape" just sounds bland and unconvincing compared to the rest.

Nonetheless, I can't stress how much I enjoyed this sonic portrait of winter and how much I recommend Melancholie² to all the fans
of similar music.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 7
Production: 10

Written by Slayer666 | 12.10.2011




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 12   Visited by: 131 users
12.10.2011 - 11:16
Rating: 8
Milena
gloom cookie
I see how the little discussion on the Burzum topic lead you to the introduction of this article
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7.0 means the album is good
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12.10.2011 - 11:19
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Börner's got a hint of genius in him. I love the violin use.

Nice review too.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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12.10.2011 - 11:22
Rating: 9
Slayer666

Written by Milena on 12.10.2011 at 11:16

I see how the little discussion on the Burzum topic lead you to the introduction of this article

The review was actually written a few weeks back.
It's quite a coincidence.
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12.10.2011 - 14:38
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
I really liked this record at first but lost interest pretty sharpish (though 'Tortured By Solitude' gets occasional plays). Overall this is slightly above average but still generic yet enjoyable-ish, for the most part, sometimes, if you're in the mood for it, depressive brack metuh (not very "ambient black metal" if you ask me, which you were obviously going to). I do think the practical 9 you gave it is too high m'fraid.
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12.10.2011 - 16:14
whatsacow

Pretty sure I saw this review last year, either on this site or another, not entirely sure...
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When God made up the golden rule, do you think he noticed that it condones rape?
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12.10.2011 - 22:17
Rating: 9
Slayer666

Written by Guest on 12.10.2011 at 14:38

I really liked this record at first but lost interest pretty sharpish (though 'Tortured By Solitude' gets occasional plays). Overall this is slightly above average but still generic yet enjoyable-ish, for the most part, sometimes, if you're in the mood for it, depressive brack metuh (not very "ambient black metal" if you ask me, which you were obviously going to). I do think the practical 9 you gave it is too high m'fraid.


As for me, it's been getting frequent plays for about a year or so, thus the "almost 9" was definitely not given lightly. I expect the frequency to increase when winter hits these parts. IMO, quite possibly the best "wintery" album I've ever heard.
I'm more of a conventional (depressive) bleeyock mithulz man myself, so the lack of innovation is certainly not a problem.
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27.11.2011 - 02:08
Rating: 8
Oaken
Hipster
Written by Guest on 26.11.2011 at 03:46

I think that the last track is a beautiful piece of music... Maybe not for pure black metalists but it builds-up a very unique atmosphere - something like you being lost in an unknown world, snow and cold everywhere and you just walk through the mountaineous nature and try to deal with the end of everything what you've known before... Just lost alone for eternity. I can't say that I've heard any song with a more touching atmosphere...

I agree. The violin is just so good.
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In that case, man is only air as well.
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17.01.2012 - 12:34
Rating: 9
Moosh666

Burzum is certainly an influence, but you could hardly compare the two, different emotions, different thoughts/comcepts and different Black Metal all together, I gave it a 9 because I loved the last track, and Coldworld definitely stands above the rest in Depressive Black, Lifelover and Drowning The Light just suck compared to this.
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17.01.2012 - 17:27
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Written by Moosh666 on 17.01.2012 at 12:34
Lifelover and Drowning The Light just suck compared to this.

You were just saying how different this is from Burzum, then you compare it to Lifelover and Drowning the Light.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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17.01.2012 - 20:36
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Written by Troy Killjoy on 17.01.2012 at 17:27

Written by Moosh666 on 17.01.2012 at 12:34
Lifelover and Drowning The Light just suck compared to this.

You were just saying how different this is from Burzum, then you compare it to Lifelover and Drowning the Light.


Fucking black metal.. How does it work?!
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass
Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.
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20.01.2012 - 15:12
Rating: 9
Moosh666

Written by Troy Killjoy on 17.01.2012 at 17:27

Written by Moosh666 on 17.01.2012 at 12:34
Lifelover and Drowning The Light just suck compared to this.

You were just saying how different this is from Burzum, then you compare it to Lifelover and Drowning the Light.


Because both of those bands are also referred to as Depressive Black?
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01.08.2013 - 16:49
Rating: 9
Moosh666

Written by X-Ray Rod on 17.01.2012 at 20:36

Written by Troy Killjoy on 17.01.2012 at 17:27

Written by Moosh666 on 17.01.2012 at 12:34
Lifelover and Drowning The Light just suck compared to this.

You were just saying how different this is from Burzum, then you compare it to Lifelover and Drowning the Light.


Fucking black metal.. How does it work?!


Only just saw this now, fucking hilarious dude XD
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