Sturmpercht – Geister Im Waldgebirg (2006)

March 18, 2024

I’m new to the music of Sturmpercht, but more or less completely in love with it after only a few short weeks. Geister Im Waldgebirg filters traditional Alpine folk music (a type of music that I am admittedly not familiar with) through the medium of neofolk, resulting in a morose acoustic experience that sounds confident and authentic. The record cannot be dismissed for following repetitive acoustic folk structures however; for each campfire acoustic guitar track there’s a haunting atmospheric track, full of stifling effects like (I’m assuming) synthesizers, horns, accordions, the works!

If I had one complaint it would be that Geister Im Waldgebirg is overly long at 70 minutes in run time. None of the tracks feel like filler, this is important to state, but I do feel the album would flow better at a more hospitable run time of 35-45 minutes.