von Branden - Scherben
Greyfall - gf 006 - 2007
By Axemaiden
von Branden define themselves as representing 'honest, intense, emotional music united by extreme contrasts' which is portrayed by their unconventional use of instrumentation and vocal style, they describe their sound as being deep, pure, unusual and diverse and to be honest, this is a pretty fair and accurate description. Imagine a sort of cross between
Burzum,
Clannad and
Apocalyptica with a bit of
Amon Amarth style vocals and you're still not anywhere near to describing their sound, though you would certainly be heading along the right road! The music is definitely strange; dreamy, meandering, contemplative and very chilled out, with lush, almost romantic yet haunting cello and unearthly piano melodies and the odd interludes of saxophones, it's very different to anything you may usually hear.
Probably the most striking attribute of
Scherben ('shards' in German), however, is the sheer diversity of the vocals, a mixture of high and tortured keening, guttural growls, evocative and soft euphonies and eerie, almost monastic chanting (for example, as heard in the track
'Vergessen'). Each song sounds very different from the previous one and interestingly, they even have a cover of Tori Amos'
'Winter', which works well musically, but I don't think is particularly suited to a male voice. Overall, I thought the album was very, very good, with some beautiful sections, but I think that you would have to be in quite a contemplative mood initially to listen to it and it may not be suited to everybody because of its diversity. I would recommend giving it a good listen though.
Official von Branden Website
Official von Branden Myspace
Official Greyfall Website
