Tag Archives: Klabautamann

Underground Sounds: Klabautamann – Smaragd

Label: Zeitgeister Music
Origin: Germany
Band: Klabautamann

Sail the unknown with Klabautamann

It’s a peculiar entity, this Klabautamann, who deliver some wonderful music with their fifth full length, titled ‘Smaragd’. The German group enlisted Costin Chorineau for the artwork, which looks as if it was inspired by the similar looking cover of Helms Alee’s ‘Sleepwalking Sailors’. There’s not much similarity in the music, though both albums allow you to just dream away in distinct manners.

Klabautamann blends black metal with elements of folk and quite a bit of postrock. Klabautamann refers to a specific type of goblin that causes shipwrecks. The nautical theme is not overly present in their work though, but the focus on nature is. The band is a two piece, with Florian Toyka (Valborg) and Tim Steffens (Skarab). So both are not strangers to the weird and experimental we could say. This project definitely has a progressive flavor.

Pecularly, Klabautamann can sound a bit Pink Floydish at times. For example on ‘In My Shadow’, where a passage feels like the trickling, playful tease of one of those tunes. That shortly shifts back to blast beats and growls though. Massive archs and thunderous rhythms hit the listener like waves. The music is filled with tiny details and as a result of this the band doesn’t need to be loud. Their loudness is in the gentle flow of the organ, the muffled drum hits. All ready to erupt in violent blasts at any time.

But there’s some doom and gloom in their music too. Check out the song ‘The Murderers’, withits creeping, death metal vibe, which morphs into cascading, clean sounding doom riffs. It’s remarkable how these guys never need the pure volume and distortion to be loud. Klabautamann is all about atmosphere. The songs slowly unfold, while all those details work the listeners imagination. It makes for a record that is a daunting listen, yet so worth your time to check it out.