Album Review: Mystic Circle - Kriegsgötter MMXXV
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
German duo, Mystic Circle have been weaving black symphonies over the past thirty-years, through their nine full-length, and a number of EPs and splits, leading up to the release of Erzdämon back in 2023.
For this latest album, Mystic Circle have chosen to turn the clock back twenty-five years to the millennium and the release of their five-track covers EP, Kriegsgötter II. Originally issued in the year 2000, Kriegsgötter II is the band paying tribute to their musical influenc1es and contains the German’s versions of material by Bathory, Celtic Frost and Acheron, as well as an instrumental and rare track in the band’s native tongue.
For this twenty-fifth anniversary, Mystic Circle have gone back to Kriegsgötter II’s drawing board and back into the studio to not only re-record the existing material, but to add three entirely new tracks to flesh the whole thing out to eight songs.
Just to show the diversity of thought from multi-instrumentalists Blackwar and Beelzebub, the inclusion of classical influences can be heard peppering throughout; Die Götter der Urväter was the title-track from the band’s 1996 demo and blends huge percussion and whirlwind riffing with epic bombast. Azazel’s Soulfly is an atmospheric instrumental straight out of the Dimmu Borgir / Cradle of Filth playbook, full of neo-classical piano and heavy organ, it’s almost as though the Phantom of the Opera is tickling the ivories. Devastatingly heavy at times, there are section where the band’s more playful side comes to the fore.
The Acheron melody pays tribute to the little-known US blackened death band who were to be highly influential to Mystic Circle. This is a seven-minute Frankenstein of a track, stitching together Acheron’s finest moments in a web of hard, driving blasphemy of rampaging death metal
From the original comes covers by two of the black metal genre’s most significant players. Celtic Frost’s Circle of the Tyrants feels the least affected by the cover; its phrasings, tones and Tom’s vocal affectations are all there and you don’t want to mess with something if it ain’t broken. Alternately the cover of Bathory’s One Rode to Asa Bay is equally not broken but lends itself to addition symphonic grandeur. Slightly slower than the Blood Fire Death version, those extra seconds allow Mystic Circle to include some lush accoutrements that supplement the piece perfectly. Guesting on this version is former Cradle of Filth collaborator, Sarah Jezebel Deva, whose otherworldly pipes sit in stark contrast to Beelzebub’s rasps.
Three new tracks have been added to Kriegsgötter II for this twenty-fifth anniversary. The most direct cover coming in the form of Possessed’s Death Metal from their 1985 genre classic Seven Churches album. Fast and furious it’s a loving tribute to one of death metal’s founding documents.
As iconic as it is, the Gerard McMann / Michael Mainieri song Cry Little Sister, taken from the soundtrack of The Lost Boys, is not a tune that would immediately spring to mind when pondering a black metal band doing covers. Yet, somehow, Mystic Circle maintain the gothic elements and, though Beelzebub’s vocal takes some getting used to, when the sweet melodies of the ghostly female vocals join you can almost feel yourself walking down the Santa Carla boardwalk. Again, the band use a classical motif and even incorporate a huge sounding church organ into the mix. Making me want to pop the DVD in and see what’s going on with those pesky vampires out in California.
Let’s be honest, if you’re in a band and looking to cover an Iron Maiden tune, Afraid to Shoot Strangers from 1992’s Fear of the Dark album would probably not be one that immediately comes front and centre. Addressing the First Gulf War it’s been about a dozen years since it appeared in
Maiden’s set list. Mystic Circle deconstruct the tune, remaking it into a hard hitting and adventurous interpretation. Sarah returns to give the pre-choruses a haunting feel and the song’s jaunty bridges are layered beneath an avalanche of huge guitars. As a massive Iron Maiden fan, the ambition shown here is exhilarating.
Mystic Circle might not be the first port of call when in need of a Black Metal fix, but since discovering them through their Unholy Chronicles (1992 to 2004) compilation I can safely say they make a worthy addition to the cannon; and these covers show the band’s range and influences off to a tee.
