My first album recommendation is one of my most favorite albums, it‘s Stillstand und Heimkehr by the German black metal band Eïs.

Their style is kind of hard to specify, it‘s some kind of melodic black metal with some doom influences and an impressive atmospheric dark mood.

Stillstand und Heimkehr (which ist best translated Stagnation and Homecoming) was my first contact with Eïs and immediately touched me deeply, which in turn caused me to listen to and falling in love with all their albums. It‘s a short EP, consisting of two tracks.

The first track builds up some great atmosphere with light but desperate piano over the sound of the sea. The mood gets destroyed by a merciless riff combined with a raw scream. As the track progresses, some lighter parts come through, however it mainly stays within it‘s dark mood.

Following is the title track which keeps this mood and intensifies it by it‘s masterful lyrics (if you feel remembered to Caspar David Friedrich‘s painting Wanderer over the Sea of Fog, you‘re damn right):

Ich möchte wandern,
weit über das Nebelmeer.
Fort von den Menschen,
Stillstand und Heimkehr.

English:

I want to ramble,
far over the sea of fog.
Away from humans,
stagnation and homecoming.

There‘s not much to say about it, just listen to it. Pro tip: close your eyes for the last intense blast beat part and just keep diving into the music. It‘s simply beautiful with it‘s desperate dark and almost depressive mood.

I‘ll keep my personal thoughts and feelings regarding this album for myself, but can tell you this: Stillstand und Heimkehr has been one of the most important and best albums for me since it‘s release. I highly recommend taking the time to listen to it for a few times.

Quick Facts

  • Genre: Melodic Black Metal, Doom and DSBM influences
  • 2 tracks, 22 minutes
  • Released 2018