Geist - Der Ungeist

Geist's Der Ungeist is a balanced and raw black metal album with a bit of a digital polish and powerful vocals. What works best for Der Ungeist's is the live take feel of the album (which was, in fact "recorded live and left unrevised to preserve its nature") which really highlights the needlely and hazy guitars, demented vocals and thriving drums quite well.

Stylistically, Geist's not doing anything too different in terms of black metal. Songs revolve around 3 or 4 riffs, typical melodic lines and blast beats. Opener "Mond" goes on for a bit too long, but is at its best during the slower section (as is Geist for that matter), where as follow up  "Von Blut" is thankfully shorter and incorporates a bit more variation to keep the listener loyal.

For better or worse, Der Ungeist doesn't strike me too strongly, it's far from bad, but pretty generic as black metal comes. As for their presentation, the CD booklet  has a great cryptic and coarse charcoal painting for a cover and intriguing and bleak photography within which would lead the viewer to think Geist would operate in darker, more emotional realm rather than its very metal approach.

Der Ungeist lacks a certain dynamism that, if added, could catapult him into a modern pantheon of other great acts.