Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Album Review: Die Saat - "Wir laden zum Feste"

Die Saat - Wir laden zum Feste

Band: Die Saat (Germany)
Album Title: Wir laden zum Feste
Label: Ewiges Eis Records (Germany)
Released: 2006

Well, here it is, the crowning achievement of a great Viking metal band. Wir laden zum Feste, in my opinion, is the fulfillment of the potential Die Saat has shown. It's a full 20 minutes shorter than Der Schlachten Tribut, the band's previous album, but to me it's to Die Saat's benefit, as it sounds tighter and more focused. It would have been great to see how they would top Wir laden zum Feste, but unfortunately, it looks like the band has split up (according to Encyclopedia Metallum, at least).

Although I enjoyed the first and second album greatly, I was not prepared for how good their third album would be. Everything has improved over the previous album, including the production. Finally, the production is worthy of the music, or at least very close to it. There is still room for improvement, but everything is more clearly recorded and is given proper space within the stereo spectrum. Even the drum machine has improved.

If the album has any fault, it's that it takes a few minutes to get moving. It begins with an a cappella track called "Willkommen," and follows with "Midgards Erben," the first real song on the album. "Midgards Erben" is not a bad song over all, but it starts out kind of weak. However, things pick up by the chorus, and for the rest of the album, I was entirely captivated.

The keyboard sounds and arrangements have a majestic, sweeping quality. There are some moments that are so perfect that I have to smile, and those moments come quite often on this album. I was going to try to list some of them, but there are just too many. Picking a favorite track is difficult as well, not because the songs seem to blend together into one long song (they don't, they each manage to stand out), but because they are all so good. "Asatru" is particularly breath-taking, though. And I love the clean vocals that close the title track.

As I stupidly decided to write reviews for all three Die Saat albums in one evening, I'm at a loss for words to describe Wir laden zum Feste adequately. I guess the biggest endorsement I can give is that it's in my top 5 metal albums of 2006. If it's the final contribution we'll see from Die Saat, at least they went out on a high note. Unfortunately, it's one that few will probably hear, as it was limited to 1,000 copies between two editions (a regular digi-pack and a metal box version). It's definitely worth tracking down, in my opinion.

Hails to you, Die Saat! May you one day return!

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