Released as a beautiful digipack on Darkwood's original label (as most of his previous albums), 'Herbsgewölk' is (already!) the fourth opus composed by this well established German neofolk act.
This time the main theme is about miracle weapons and the nuclear race in 1945, which led to the cold war period... A dark topic that refers to a recent past and which offers to Henryk Vogel the possibility to reveal another facet (thematically and musically speaking) of Darkwood.
By consequence, the best way to apprehend this new album is to expect to listen to something quite different from the 'Weltenwende' 10" or the live CD 'The Final Hour'...

A percussive and threatening debut track suggests the general atmosphere that floats all over this record before leaving place to 'Wolfbane', a song mixing menacing ambient sonorities with English lyrics and acoustic guitar... A kind of folk ballad with disturbing but melodic haunting soundscapes in the background... A song that, ultimately, resumes perfectly the talent of Henryk in gathering and adapting different musical universes and influences...

'Prophecies' counts amongst the few gems that this musician always distils here and there amongst his works. This song just sounds perfect... the bass lines, the melancholic melody played by the melodica, the lyrics, the sample of an American predicator... all elements are used and mixed with accuracy.
The same enthusiastic observation applies to the organic and poetic 'Aftermath'... here again the subtle collage of a Russian movie sample with an American political speech accompanied by a monotonous acoustic guitar bring an unsuspected feeling... Some of you will not miss the link between 'Aftermath' and another song of Darkwood's repertoire...
'Descent' has a symphonic and quite martial background like 'Opfergang', based upon a Georg Trakl poem and Henryk's spoken words, which begins with a very appropriate American political speech... In the same vein, follows the percussive and powerful 'Weiße Welt' based upon a poem by Paul Friedrich.
The most melancholic song featuring on this new album is certainly 'Orders' aided in this by the grave notes played on the violoncello ... a beautifully sad composition that ends with heart beats...
The final track also combines ambient noisescapes and acoustic elements to create a unique atmosphere that captures perfectly the essence of this 'secret science, its final curse and its final hope'...

All in all, a very captivating, pleasant and mature album that one does not hesitate to play over and over again...

Darkwood is definitely a band that has evolved and improved over the years... guided by a talented artist who is not afraid of leaving the beaten path of the 'traditional' neofolk scene to offer an exquisite fusion of strange and despairing noisescapes, inspired lyrics, samples and acoustic elements...