Wesenwille – II: A Material God (Review)

Wesenwille are a black metal band from the Netherlands and this is their second album.

Wesenwille play modern black metal that’s delivered with passion and skill. You can hear the band’s traditional influences, but these are delivered with a contemporary twist.

This is an album of restrained chaos and oppressive nightmare. The modern production values allow the music to breathe in spite of its suffocating atmosphere, and the band’s seemingly diverse influences prevent the album from restricting itself too far along one-dimensional lines. The music has clear dissonant leanings, despite its ability to drop into a gripping blackened groove when it wants to. The harshness of the most aggressive aspects of the music is where the dissonance shines through bleakly, but rather than be defined by this, it’s merely part of what makes II: A Material God so enjoyable. Some of the riffs have also managed to give rise to an album that’s on the heavier side for black metal.

Other elements that ably contribute towards the enjoyment of this record are Wesenwille’s capabilities when it comes to the melodies that they wield like weapons, as well as the more atmosphere-heavy side of their songs. The former frequently adds emotive texture, (and some of the solos are real highlights), while the latter manifests in a variety of ways, whether this is a maelstrom of mood-driven turbulent darkness, or a passage more akin to that of an emotive post-metal soundscape. Yes, II: A Material God is more than just grim claustrophobic distortion and howling hostility. In fact, the more atmospheric and expansive the band get, the calmer and more introspective they seem to become, at least for a while.

The songs have a lot going on in them due to all of the above, and Wesenwille have crafted quite an involved, intricate release that still manages to be whirlwind-violent in places.

II: A Material God is a well-rounded slice of black metal that manages to balance dissonant aggression, immersive atmosphere, and expansive melody very well. I highly recommend this for any fan of modern extreme metal.