Endlos were formed in 2012 in the Lower Saxonian area (Germany) by Jörn ‘J’ Hermann and Carsten ‘C’ aka ‘Waldseel’. Both of them are quite active musicians, being involved with several other bands and projects, and with Endlos their productivity isn’t inferior either. There were several demos and EP’s, and a split with Winterblood, and now they come up with their first official full length album, Im Fallen Verlaufen. The CD-release includes a 12-page booklet with the lyrics, and the album comes in an edition of 500 copies. It’s a co-release in between Russia’s Symbol Of Domination Productions and Germany’s Narbentage Produktionen; the latter did release some Endlos-material before, by the way (cf. the Grau In Tod cassette).
Opening song Frontbericht starts with some spoken words (in German), and at about one minute all Chaos breaks loose by means of a punky outburst. Hardcore vocals, fast riffs and an aggressive rhythm section immediately cause head banging pleasure for sure! There are some more tranquil, slower passages too, as well as a couple of grimly deep-throated screams, making this rather short opening track a brain-torturing starter. Quite surprised I was (and still am) when the second piece, 09032013, starts. Gone are the Punk / Hardcore elements from Frontbericht; please welcome the most melancholic and quite doomy side of Black / Post-Rock… And this is the main character of the whole album, as a matter of fact: a mixture of little dissonant, tremolo-led Post Rock / Metal and (mostly) slow-paced melancholic-depressive Black Metal. There is quite some variation in vocal range (screams, growls, shouts, chants, spoken words, yells etc.), in speed (mainly quite slow, yet permanently interspersed with faster outbursts, introduced by creative hooks and eccentric loops – cf. a blast-hammer like Das Hässliche - Der Mensch), and in song structure (without being ‘progressive’ as in ‘Progressive Music’, it’s the ‘Post’-aspect that adds a healthy dose of modernism). The duo permanently changed and re-arranged the recorded material (apparently it too two years before finishing the album), and that’s what might define the diversity in execution. Also the discordance, especially in riffing (like the aforementioned ear drum piercer Das Hässliche - Der Mensch), is pretty uncomfortable, yet quite ingenious as well. Another weird aspect is the piece Deranged, an acoustic semi-ballad with vocals by an unknown (female) singer who is called N. right here. Mallory ‘Tenebras’ Julia (Nuit Noire, ex-Grimoria, ex-Arkham) too appears as guest vocalist, on Quand Vient La Fin (despite the French title, the lyrics are in German too) – another very strange song with eccentric riffing and a frenzy atmosphere. Also Déhà (We All Die (Laughing), C.O.A.G., Yhdarl, Slow and many, many more…) acts as guest performer, i.e. the piano part on Greifen.
I guess everyone who can appreciate eccentric material à la, and let’s get pretty wide, Lantlôs, Dornenreich, Altar Of Plagues, Emptiness Soul or AutumnBlaze (I know, quite a cool listing, but listen and accept this description) will adore this album. But be warned, for it might be pretty confusing too, even discomfortable…