Genre: Neo-Classical / Martial / Ambient

01 Väter unser im Walhall
02 Sailing Homeward
03 March through the Highlands
04 Vril I
05 Beyound Midgard
06 Night of the long knifes
07 Jesterday’s Vision
08 Beneath the Southern Cross
09 Hollow’s Way
10 Neu-Schwabenland (tribute to ZHARK)

Von Liebenfels is named after its founder, the 21 year old Torsten von Liebenfels, hailing to us from New Zealand. I do wonder if Torsten is family of the Austrian writer and journalist,Lanz von Liebenfels. But never mind that, strongly influenced by the bombastic music from Wagner and the Neo-classical sounds from Von Thronstahl, Von Liebenfels is here to widen up the collection of the well-known label/mail-order SkullLine, with a new fresh Ambient/Neo-classical sound which suites me very fine.

Von Liebenfels first release sounds very good. The tracks are well-divided over the CD and with a duration of 49 minutes, it is an excellent first album for a new artist. “Väter unser im Walhall” sounds very dramatic with touches of bombastic marching pieces. On the other hand, Torsten seems to know how to switch between the powerful and the soft, tender sound of a piano or the string section of an orchestra. I got to say, I had some difficulties listening to the CD for the first time. The Wagner-sounding compositions are great but of course electric. So it can be a little hard to get into. But once I played the entire CD in one run, it became more interesting for me. The CD seems to tell a story music-wise. The compositions (I cannot call them songs, that would be a slap in the face for Torsten) are really special and emotionally charged. Noticeable are the harmonies in the orchestral parts. As I have some background in classical music, I need to say the parts are fitted very well together and seemed to touch me right away.

The tracks go well into each other smoothly, creating the right atmosphere without an annoying silent buffer. And although the compositions sound bombastic, it isn’t the drums which make it sound powerful. This time, instead of the well-known pounding marching parts in martial acts, the drums are very minimal and the orchestral sounds take care of the bombastic sounds. This gives Von Liebenfels points in my opinion, because pounding martial drums prove not to be the only possibility to create a bombastic, military sound.

The fourth track is something different. With the use of soft ambient sounds on the background and a rather interesting but yet beautiful piano part on the foreground, “Vril I” made me felt very comfortable. It is an outstanding composition; especially with the spoken vocals very far away in the distance, which I felt like is the icing on the cake. The other track which flies high above the rest is “the night of the long knifes”. Of course, with a name like that, there has to be something interesting about it. The track consists (again) out of piano parts, hence the tag Neo-classical, but different than the others. The part played build up, until ambient parts fill up the silence in the room. The composition is given multiple dimensions once the slow drum starts in the back and the piano is doubled. At the end, for a short period of time, a whistle joins the piano to finally make this composition to the best one found on the release. The rest of the tracks are all a bit in the same line as described above. They all give an atmosphere filling the gap between Neo-classical and Ambient. The final track, “Nue-Schabenland” is a track to notice not only due to the fact that it is a tribute to ZHARK but that it differs a lot from the rest. The dark, pounding, spacey sounds combined with a dark heart-beat prove to be the best ending for this excellent first release.

I think there is a good future for Von Liebenfels and I am wondering how the next CD will sound. Von Liebenfels shows to be a fresh wind through the collection of SkullLine but also the Neo-Classical/Ambient scene. It is not truly original, but Torsten surely knows his roots and has the capability to stand out in a crowd of artists, showing that by this, limited to 50 pieces, first release.