Harlinger – Kinderschreck
Band: Harlinger
Title: Kinderschreck
Label: Black Flame Alliance
Release date: December 13th, 2024
Country: Germany
Format reviewed: High-Quality Digital Recording
A singing child in a metal album is a big risk, but in Harlinger‘s debut album Kinderschreck it has its place. The whole album is themed around scary nursery rhymes, stories and old songs songs about mythical creatures of the German tradition, used to scare children into obedience.
The album starts with an intro of dark ambiance where a little boy is singing about one of these creatures, seemingly invoking or even mocking it without fear. The room feels big, dark and abandoned and the child is exposed in his innocent loneliness. Then from the background the creatures voice is heard, answering the call. The effect is frightening which is an accomplishment. The album artwork depicting a father reading a scary story to his son, delightfully absorbed in the details, missing the increasing fear of the child, helps with the interpretation of the scene. The tension between safety and danger is clear.
With the entrance of the creature the intro ends, and the metal starts. This is when the story shifts. The music is not frightening at all. On the contrary, the slow harmonious riffs of the first song are quite soothing. The fry screams are even and on point which gives the whole composition a feeling of order and reliability. It is not the creepy horror I would have expected from the intro. Rather, the music gives the impression of the father waking up from his immersion, discovering the fear of the child and turning the nightmare into a good story. Is this the intended effect? Who cares! The album is a joy to listen to.
During the songs that follow we get introduced to a whole series of frightening creatures from the German cultural heritage. The lightness and comfort of the music increases through the album. The whole composition is based on repetition of melodic riffs. They are sometimes soothing, sometimes euphoric and sometimes joyful, but always catchy. Changes in drum patterns create variation even though the riffs are repeated enough to get stuck in my mind. They are welcome to stay and brighten my mood.
By the fifth song, I have almost forgotten the scary ambient intro, but then the child unexpectedly reappears. In Der Butzemann the little voice sings a cheerful children’s song about another evil creature. This time the music that follows is outright playful. The chords are harmonic, and the tempo is fast but still comfortable. The song culminates in an interlude where a mouth harp accompanies the vocalist as he screams the words of the children’s song in unison with the melody. In my imagination I see the father dressing up as the evil Butzemann, dancing around with the laughing kids while scaring away the real dangers lurking in the dark outside the windows.
Is Harlinger telling a story about the power of imagination, to both summon and domesticate the powers of the dark? Is it a display of resistance against the older generations’ oppression of the young, or against the heritage of control and subordination? Probably not. After the dance of Butzemann the album continues its joyful descriptions of murderous creatures, and the name of the final song translates to Childeater.
Kinderschreck is not an album for deep immersion or meditation. It is an album for partying, for cheering up a dull day or summoning the energy to get things done. It is melodic and engaging, powerful and catchy. It is well executed – instrumentally and compositionally. The sound feels smooth and expensive which adds to the lightness of the listening experience. I recommend this album to any metalhead who needs something uplifting and fun, and if you suffer from nightmares this just might be the spell to chase them away. 8/10 by Ask
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