Nebelung — Palingenesis

It’s a monumental feat to try and create sounds that personify the themes of decay, rebirth and transformation; more so to do it without any lyrical accompaniment.  Germanys Nebelung has successfully intertwined these ideals with their latest release Palingenesis.  The musicians involved Stefan Otto, Thomas List and Katharina Hoffmann have constructed wordless, soulful and strikingly gentle songs that evoke a emotions and regeneration of the human spirit.

Each instrumental evokes the beautiful stillness of quiet reflection.  Guitars, cello, dulcimer, glass harp, harmonium, accordion and whispered vocals are layered into gorgeous pieces of music reflecting the silent passages of one transformation to the next.  “Polaris” with its minimal sounds echoing a quiet spirituality, “Nachtgewalt” lulls one into a melancholy mood, the feeling of walking through the woods on a chilly evening.  “Mitwinter” invokes the stillness of winter; a repetitious guitar melody is pensive but hopeful; much like “Aufgang” where a mournful cello adds depth to the angelic sounding guitars. “Innerlichkeit” is a soaring combination of instruments that create a sentiment of introspection. “Wandlung” starts with soft drone (maybe a field recording?) that evolves into (once again) the most stunning acoustic guitar harmony. Throughout Palingenesis the lack of vocals is never really an issue, in fact even after to listening to the whole album you’d be hard pressed to think of any lyric that would do justice to the music.  Nebelung have been able to convey every thought and emotion through sound.

The one point that keeps returning in each and every song is how very natural the instruments, the compositions and the atmospheres feel.  Nebelung have created a spiritually organic piece of art that is so achingly exquisite.  Palingenesis is unquestionably the perfect name for their work.  Drenched in soul bearing starkness and haunting emotion, they have taken on a journey through birth, life, death and transfiguration.