HARDWARES

On its third full-length, German trio Semen Datura mixes traditional speed-driven black metal with brief acoustic bits and equally periodic plodding, while still maintaining a driving, melodic sense of rhythm thanks to a certain balance of the traditional and the unexpected, the majestic and the raw within the ever-expanding acceptable expanse of the black metal realm. Thanks to the occasional swaths of almost symphonic keys and the emphasis on rhythmic riff prowess so many black metal bands skip over in favor of all out speed, Semen Datura sometimes opts, instead, for the Enslaved playbook, mixing up the balls-out speed formula for melody and mood, albeit in more compact songs than the Norwegians. Melancholic album-closer ‘Arkona’, ‘Marschbefehl’, and the six-minute long ‘Unter Bleigvanen Wolkenlasten’ benefit from that very variance, and a production mix showcasing a natural rawness inside a wholly balanced mix help the songs benefit because of it. The title track does, especially. Going from Gorgoroth-worthy heaviness and speed into a powerful plodding rhythm and back again, seams seamlessly easy for these guys, and if there is a misstep, it’s the eighth track, ‘Vineta’. An entirely acoustic interlude with raspy German lyrics, it's oddly out of place towards the end of the 10-track effort. And while the majority of lyrics on Einsamkeit are in German, the album’s name translates to ‘forlorn’ or ‘solitude’, according to the band, but us English blokes will still perceive that very feeling thanks to Semen Datura’s ability to portray that dreariness musically amidst a landscape of melody masked by black metal truisms.