Ho-hum. That's the first reaction to this thrashy blackened side project of the lead alchemist behind prog wizards Solefad. Obviously, a return to roots and simplicity; a few of the riffs are of evil quality, but too many tracks are delivered with a lack of passion and strictly by the numbers genericism. It is professional sounding and tight, perhaps too much so, as a low-fi approach might have livened things up a bit, the music not quite delivering the epic proportions the crisp production would enhance.
Himmelen Faller contains a quirky creepy sample. The Seifried is a slow, dissonant plodder, featuring ethereal, echoey clean vocals in the chorus, and is the best track on the album. Ritornio Glorioso is an neo-classical instrumental prelude that recalls Laibach. But it's at higher speeds that the creatively dips, as Sturmgeist 89 proves, simply regurgitating Immortal and Satyricon to minimal effect.
If you are a black metal completist, Manifesto Futurista is worth a couple spins, but you are better off checking out the Solefad discography.
Rating: 6 out of 10
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Sturmgeist/32309
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