NARGAROTH's classic-era peak: rain-soaked German black metal, cyclical and suffocating, six tracks near an hour long.
René "Ash" Wagner has driven NARGAROTH as a singular vision since 1996, working out of Saxony, Germany, within the raw, uncompromising tradition of German black metal. Across three decades the project has cycled through eras without ever settling, and this 2003 record sits at the heart of what fans already regard as its classic run.
Rain runs through Geliebte des Regens as both sound and symbol, and everything else follows from it. Six tracks reduce to four real songs once the intro, outro, and a doubled arrangement are stripped away, each one stretched to ten or eighteen minutes and built on guitar figures that unfold slowly, drums held to a minimum, repetition working as feeling rather than filler. The mix stays close and suffocating throughout, dedications to a lover, to the self, and to the fallen woven into the lyrics without ever breaking the record's grip. Wagner tracked the instrumentals in the same 2001 session that produced both Rasluka EPs, then let two years pass before adding vocals, and that patience is audible in how deliberately the album paces itself. This isn't a record for casual listening; it wants the right kind of miserable night and repeat visits to open up fully. Ash himself has called it one of his two favourites in his own catalogue, and specialist critics have consistently rated it well above where broader aggregator scores land, a gap that speaks to the record's difficulty rather than any shortfall in quality.
RIYL: Burzum, Xasthur, Trist
1. Intro - Calling The Rain
2. Manchmal Wenn Sie Schläft
3. Wenn Regen Liebt (Zwiegespräch Mit Mir)
4. Von Scherbengestalten Und Regenspaziergang (Vision Eines Realen Todes)
5. Manchmal Wenn Sie Schläft (In Musikalisch Differenter Und Kristalliner Lebensform)
6. Outro - Leb' Wohl