### Ingrimm: Todgeweiht

#### 03/06/09 || GardensTale

I know it’s become difficult to be really original in this scene. There’s such a huge influx of new bands, new music, that it becomes increasingly hard to do something no one else has done before. Generally, you can describe any given band as a mixture of several other bands. However, it’s different when you can describe it with just one band. Those are called fucking clones, and fucking clones should fucking die.

Case in point. Ingrimm are a folk metal band. They use bagpipes and the occasional violin for the atmosphere and melody. Their songwriting consists of fairly basic song structures, verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-solo-chorus, you know the deal. The guitars mostly provide a backdrop for repetitive bagpipe melodies. The singer has a slightly gruff voice that makes him sound a bit melancholic. Also, they sing in German. Now, guess what band I’m talking about?

In Extremo. Ingrimm shamelessly copy them, jumping out of the cover only very occasionally (there’s a black metal scream on “Ingrimm” for instance) but those seem to be more momentary lapses in clone logic than attempts to be original. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn it was some old forgotten In Extremo album from before they were famous and when they hadn’t completely mastered their sound yet. Or their songwriting, because while the song structure of Ingrimm is just copy-paste as well, they don’t manage to write stuff that’s as balanced and catchy as In Extremo. Additionally, the production seems to prioritize the voices where it shouldn’t, making the music sound like it’s settling for second base.

It’s not all bad though, really. There are some neat melodies on here, a hook or two, but when you so blatantly copy the signature sound of a well-known band, you fall outta grace with me faster than you can say ‘copycat’. Guys, there’s some talent in this stuff, but please: get a fucking face of your own. I’d like to see what you can do outside of In Extremo’s shadow.

5,5 out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2008
- Label: Black Bards Entertainment
- Website: www.ingrimm.com
- Band
- Stephan: vocals
- Alex: vocals
- Hardy: guitars, medieval instruments
- Baba: bass
- Klaus: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Vogelfrei
- 02. Krieger
- 03. Ingrimm
- 04. Todgeweiht
- 05. Der letzte Tanz
- 06. Teufelsweib
- 07. Narrentraum
- 08. Der Stern
- 09. Sündig Fleisch
- 10. Rot
- 11. Diaboli