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Waldgeflüster's a bit more polished than most solo black metal projects we've talked about around here. The band is the project of one Winterherz, a German with a penchant for both folk and relatively clean guitar tone black metal. On paper, that's not something I'm crazy about—in practice, performed by Waldgeflüster (meaning "Whispering Forest"), it works surprisingly well.

A first listen to Waldgeflüster and you'll tick off some familiar boxes—melancholic, atmospheric, nature reverent, pagan-tinted (new license plate?), etc. What separates Waldgeflüster from the chaff is ambitious, sometimes playful songwriting and that Pagan Edge (new scene?)--listening to it, for whatever reason, I'm thinking Amorphis meets Drudkh, or something similar. That's a cross section I can get behind. After multiple listens, the clean, at first too sincere vocals work. Track five, "Wenn die Morgensonn...", is a favorite. Meine Fesseln is Waldgeflüster's third full-length, out today on Bindrune Recordings.

— Wyatt Marshall

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