From The Archives, Album Review: Schijnheiligaards - De Gulzigaard

People expecting Schijnheiligaards to take their Post Metal sound in the same doomy direction of their EP Verheven & Verketterd with their new album after hearing lead single Huizen Van Plezier are in for a surprise.

De Gulzigaard is much, much more than just that. In fact, Huizen Van Plezier might be one of the weakest songs on here.

Where the band still sounded like a bunch of pagans standing in a cornfield on their debut Welkom In Ons Reet, De Gulzigaard sounds like a High Mass in some Demonical Cathedral.

Schijnheiligaards has taken a next step into their evolution. The riffs, clearly Death and Doom inspired, sound alternately brutal or foreboding, while their melodic passages are showing subtle Gothic hints.

The biggest surprise comes from vocalist/bassist Laura Broeck. We already knew she possesses a death grunt that sounds surprisingly deep for a woman. Who would have thought this lady could actually sing as well. She sounds like a Siouxsie Sioux in a lower register.

And then there's that finale. De Wellustigen Zullen Zich Over Uw Ontfermen, what a title, is not just the best song in their catalogue. I might dare say, it's the best Metal song I've heard in years.

The downside is that this is a concept album, and like most concept albums, it tramples over it's own ambition at times. De Gulzigaard tries to divide it's tracklist into three chapters, dividing them with two instrumentals, shall we call them atmosphericals? Not only do they break the rhythm of this unholy thunderstorm, I don't speak Dutch, so how would I know what the narrative is, or even know there is a narrative to begin with?

With De Gulzigaard, Schijnheiligaards prove that they're still worthy of their position of the Biggest Metal Band of this moment, but just falls short to cement that position. But the competition is starting to breath down their necks now. If the band can step it up just one more notch for their next album, that might become their true masterpiece.

93%

Comparable with Amenra

https://youtu.be/rBTqCIgpJ6s?is=-dE06OcG4MVEVeJn↗ (YouTube)

De Gulzigaard peaked at #5 in the charts and has been certified Diamond