Year: 2020
Total time: 45:15
Label: Independent/Prophecy
The attack came out of nowhere. The command was total obliteration.
From the very first notes hitting the woofers of my poor hi-fi I knew that this album would leave a mark on the music I love. It’s fast, furious, inspired but most of all it sounds fresh, it follows no stylistic cliches production-wise, it screams of metal with the passion of the old days.
If the heavy metal Valhalla had a specific soundtrack this would be it. And the Germans IMHA TARIKAT play it honouring the deceased and the living heroes of the metal race who still chose to go to battle every day following their hearts and not what’s “in” and “trendy”.
From “Sternenberster”, their second full length effort after 2019’s debut “Kara Ihlas”, rises the spirit of Quorthon and meets Tom Warrior. They wonder together in the gathering wilderness, under a funeral moon. They share their ale with Cronos they raise their glasses alongside Martin Eric Ain to Lemmy Kilmister. The bard and leader of IMHA TARIKAT doesn’t just play music; Ruhzus Cellât (Kerem Yilmaz) recruits followers for an “extermination sect”.
The furious guitar work is based mainly on fast tremolo picking in the style of Blackthorn/Euronymous but also on more traditional open chord riffing echoing back to the first wave. The harmonies are dark, the melodic lines memorable, the soloing doesn’t need to be technical because it serves the songs flawlessly as every solo should. With the addition of Philipp Wende’s dynamic and tasteful drumming the atmosphere is electrified from the beginning to the end of the album and the leader’s grunts and screams come like a lighting that finally discharges heavy clouds before a redemptive storm.
I could start presenting the songs one by one, but I feel that this is not the way to do it with this album. “Sternenberster” has to be experienced as a whole from start to finish.
As 2020 runs towards its end, I can’t help but thinking about all the great releases it brough. Not only in the extreme metal genre but in heavy metal in general. The great HAVUKRUUNU where still hot in my headphones and before I could catch my breath IMHA TARIKAT finished me.
This is extreme metal at its best. This is the way it should be done in my humble oppinion.
If I had to choose only one extreme metal release from 2020, “Sternenberster” would be it. Do yourself a favor and give it a listen. Buy it (if you can find it). You thank me later…
Rating: 8,5/10
Editor: Yiannis Tziallas
Related Link: IMHA TARIKAT – Bandcamp Page
