Album Review: Aether – Verfallsschemen
Band: Aether
Album: Verfallsschemen
Label: Amor Fati Productions
Release date: December 18th, 2025
Country: Germany
Format reviewed: High quality digital recording
Album Review: Aether – Verfallsschemen via Amor Fati Productions by Ioana
I guess I will start this review by stating that I had no idea whatsoever what I was getting into with this album, beyond the German DSBM tag. I had no previous knowledge of Aether before, and, originally, had no sort of plan to review this particular album. What caught my eye, however, was the album cover. The striking image of the faceless, ghostly figures caught up in their despair in a violent, black and white landscape, along with the harsh way in which they were illustrated, definitely got me intrigued. That being said, I decided to go ahead and actually see what Verfallsschemenwas all about and… as you will see in this review, I was surprised in more than one way. I tend to be skeptical about DSBM as a style, given that it’s hard to get right and there’s a big number of bands who just end up sounding like glorified pity-parties, but let’s just say, for now, that that was not at all the case.
The album opens with “Trümmerwelten” and right from the start of the track, the listener is made aware of what the record is bound to entail, atmosphere wise. A faint piano melody veils the various samples of screams and cries joined together through the use of ambiance, before the riffs and drums come forth into a dynamic, yet almost minimalistic instrumental that perfectly encapsulates he feeling of utter hopelessness and despair that the album is built upon. However, the song structure becomes increasingly more fleshed out as the song progresses, including even the likes of melody in the bass, several tempo shifts and variations of the main riff. The vocal performance, however, is the element which best delivers the album’s emotional weight. They are rather similar to the shrieks and wails which have become the standard for DSBM, but they’re nowhere near as high pitched or dramatized. Instead, they come off as jagged, raw, almost desperate in that way that makes your stomach drop. It’s… despair made audible for the lack of a better word. I was genuinely caught aback by them, despite having been, dare I say well acquainted with the genre. Still, as a side note, the melodic touches in the riffing do such a great job at bringing everything to light. You can’t unhear them after you’ve noticed them.
“Die alte Stunde” comes up next, offering slightly more stability and overall continuity in the rhythm section, without sacrificing the dynamism. The riffing is less melodic, more straightforward, and at times I would say more punchy, due to the way it syncs with the drums. Here is also where one comes to notice that Verfallsschemen is by no means the type of record to wallow in its own misery. Yes, it is bleak, yes, it oozes suffering, but it doesn’t flinch away from it. There’s a sort of icy spine running through it, which keeps it from collapsing underneath its own weight. The vocals, although undoubtedly just as poignant and unnerving as in the previous track, are used a little more sparingly, thus adding to the aforementioned balance between the music. The instrumental, is, as people say, allowed to breathe. Nothing feels cluttered or suffocated, which, perhaps counterintuitively, adds to the atmosphere instead of taking away from it, meaning that it helps flesh out that sensation of isolation by creating this… deserted soundscape of sorts. An endless sonic wasteland dwelled by a lone, tormented protagonist.
Entering the second half of the album, there is “Verfallen”, and damn, is this one unforgiving. Those melodic in the riffing return once again, this time, however, soaked in inevitability and fatalism. This song feels like death, existing in a perpetual state of ending of sorts. I am genuinely mesmerized by the way in which Aether managed to portray the idea and sensation of inevitability in the instrumentals alone. Descending progressions, stormy, dynamic passages alternated with slower, doomier ones, variations of the main motifs that seem to be in a constant dialogue with the vocals, following but also contrasting them as if they were answering, but not quite. Speaking of vocals… compared to this track, what had been displayed on the previous ones is basically nothing. They somehow become more charged, more jagged, more urgent, more bone chilling, if that was even possible. And when paired with the abrupt ending of the song, it truly leaves you wondering what even happened.
The closing track, “Ins Nichts…” picks up on the silence left behind by its predecessor with an acoustic guitar sequence, which then plunges into yet another sonic wasteland, albeit slightly more tense and nihilistic than the one of “Die alte Stunde”. The slower moments really shine through, adding indispensable moments of quiet gravity amidst the maelstrom of agony. And no, there’s no way this vocal performance is leaving my mind anytime soon. It’s just too striking, too real, in the best way possible. However, it gets a tad crowded at times, since it is used consistently throughout the song, not at all sparingly, and thus the tension gets amplified and the balance slightly disrupted. This may seem rather confusing at first, but it doesn’t take away from the song at all, in the grand scheme of things. The length allows all the musical elements to be developed fully, in such a manner that ensures nothing comes off as rushed or cluttered. The melodic touches also maintain their place, wrapping up all the musical patterns used throughout the album.
I am not going to go ahead and act like everyone would love this album. Frankly, that’s not the point it’s trying to make. The production feels almost fragile in its rawness, the overt emotional load may come across as over the top to some, and that’s perfectly fine. Nevertheless, I can’t help but thing that the experienced listeners of black metal and DSBM specifically will find something in Verfallsschemen. Perhaps honesty, if nothing else. All that being said, it definitely did something to me. 9/10
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9/10 Epic Storm
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