Nerthus - Jonastal
Yup, there is a new Nerthud album out! Called Jonastal. A self-released limited tape, which can only be bought via the official Nerthus Bandcamp site. Comes in a plastic envelope, with the tape inside a thick and folded A4 piece of paper. The graphics clearly show some kind of murky industrial factory inside a forest; turn around, and you´ll see some kind of mineshaft. The following statement regarding the chosen concept of the release is from the release page itself:
Born and raised next to this place, where atrocities took place, and rumors are whispered, it had long been clear that I would create a thematic album about it. Jonastal is the result of many years of work on a subject that has fascinated me since my youth.
Jonastal - a sinister place in the heart of Germany!
So what kind of place is Jonastal anyway? Of course I had to do a bit of research on the World Wide Web. Jonastal was a place where a lot of prisoners from Buchenwald concentration camp were forced to dig 25 underground tunnels into the surrounding mountains in the area. Done in complete secrecy. It was believed that it was to be the main headquarters for the Führer, and a place to do research on weapons like the V2 rocket. It is also believed that it was going to be a place to research electromagnetic and nuclear technology as well. Other strange rumours from 1962 were that some even had witnessed nuclear bombing tests. The area is still today strictly forbidden for trespassers! Very scary and very murky indeed.
The first track on the A-side (all the tracks are just called 1,2,3,4 etc.) starts with a deep drone-ish hum, distant metallic sounds of something on railroads. Eerie and haunting analog ghost sounds here and there. This kind of feeling here, that if walls could talk... they sure do here. Is there a sound in here that reminds me of human voices? I'm not sure. This intro really sets the mood.
The second track has that thumping and ritualistic death-industrial sound to it, closer to soundtrack-ambient than noise here. A Recording/sample from a radio recording goes in the background, something about concentration camps and prisoners. Underground bunker feeling is present, with the hollow and empty sound of clattering machinery above ground.
With the third track, you are getting convinced of getting deeper inside the mountain tunnels. A paranormal presence/intensity hides, while a slivering cold wind makes your hair stand up. A surreal soundscape, giving the listener a kind of dizzy feel. Might just be an eerie looped tape going on in there, getting those extra layers of sound effects. Sounds bloody marvelous.
The fourth track turns up on the distant voices of the moaning dead! There is a kind of spacy, roomy feel with this track, being inside a huge underground room. Interesting kind of rhythm here, which really isn't a rhythm... just a sound being repeated, an automated machine-sound if you like. Fans of early Inanna/Archon Satani would love this.
We flip the cassette and continue with the B-side. The fifth track continues where the A-side ended. Clattering bits of eerie radio noise. Sound of someone working on metal in a tunnel, and with that thumping bass-drone working straight into your ear. There is also another sound, not sure if it is the sound of someone moaning... or the sound of a distant aeroplane.
A vibrating and heavy-manipulated ghostly radio voice speaks over the sixth track, with a razor-sharp but smooth ambient soundscape lurking over the listener. Really getting into that feeling, when you're in a place where it just... feels wrong.
Jonastal is an incredible and adventurous journey into the heart of darkness! Concerning a place where something has been, but whatever happened back then... still lingers in the very air. And this release absolutely proves it, hell! ... I even feel like finding the place and doing a bit of dark tourism. It´s a perfect and horrific dark-ambient experience, with bits of sound-experamentalism and a nod or two to the early CMI sound (BDN, Archon Satani, Inanna). For some reason, I would love to have this one on vinyl!
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