It’s a bold move to release an album consisting of one song, and that’s exactly what Todesstoss have done with their latest offering, Ebne Graun. As someone who appreciates long and expressive songs, Ebne Graun was something I had to pay attention to, and it’s a fairly good piece.
Admittedly, the piece takes a little while to get fully underway. It could be argued that Todesstoss are simply taking their time in setting the scene for things to come later on in the song, but it does feel like they’re stretching out the introduction for longer than strictly necessary – it could have perhaps benefited from a minute or so being shaved off with no major loss to the track. The sparse instrumentation and ambient vocals add a lot to the mood, but it does get a little repetitive after a while.
As the song progresses, it gets stronger and stronger with each new element that is added to the mix. There’s soaring guitar instrumentals, deep droning basslines, clashing drums and atmospheric vocals, and each facet of their sound takes the lead role at some point, which is good because it means the song isn’t led by one particular part of the band – it’s more of an equal playing field, which is important because listening to almost fifty minutes of one lead role would end up rather tedious.
As a whole, it’s a good song and album. It may not be for everyone, as it’s more of an immersive listen and not something you can stick on in the background, but all in all it’s another decent release from Todesstoss. Now, the real question is this – will we get to see this song live?!
7/10
