heavy-metal-darkness: Gorleben | Menetekel | Darkness Shall Rise Productions

Thursday, September 18, 2025

Gorleben | Menetekel | Darkness Shall Rise Productions

Release Date: 15.10.2025

Formats: CD/LP/MC/Digital

Genre: Death/Doom/Black Metal

Country: Germany

Gorleben was formed in 2010 and has gradually developed a sound that merges death, doom and black metal with atmospheric layers and industrial remnants. The band already hinted at their apocalyptic vision with their earlier works “Sleepless/Contaminated” (2021) and “Game Over” (2022). Now, with “Menetekel”, they deliver their most ambitious statement to date.

The concept of the album is clear from the first glance. “Menetekel” translates as a warning, a prophecy of inevitable downfall. Time itself becomes the thread running through the four long tracks, each stretching far beyond the typical song format and dragging the listener into a world where humanity’s hunger has already set the clock ticking. The album is 43 minutes long and it’s like one continuous descent into something irreversible, with its four chapters functioning as a cycle.

The music unfolds in waves of slow-moving doom riffing, harsh death metal vocals, atmospheric passages and sudden injections of blackened aggression. Guitars grind and stretch, often sinking into hypnotic repetition before breaking into violent eruptions. Drums rumble and march forward, never mechanical, always organic and oppressive. The bass serves as the undercurrent, vibrating like tectonic plates beneath collapsing structures. Keyboards and synths paint radioactive colors across the bleak landscape, sometimes sounding ritualistic, sometimes almost alien. Vocals are delivered with a corrosive rasp and guttural depth, embodying the voice of decay itself.

The production is raw and powerful, striking a balance between suffocating density and audible detail. The atmosphere recalls the old traditions of apocalyptic doom and the band injects it with industrial coldness and a grim sense of inevitability. The imagery of nuclear barrels, diseased organs and wastelands translates directly into the sound. There is no comfort here, no uplifting resolution, only the constant reminder of irreversible collapse.

“Menetekel” is not an easy listen, nor is it designed to be. It is a sonic ruin, a monument to decay, and a ritual that confronts listeners with the truth that the end is already happening. Gorleben achieves a cohesive work where time is subject and substance. This positions Gorleben firmly in the underground scene as a band unafraid to stretch time, concept and atmosphere to extremes. For listeners who seek heavy music as a vision of apocalypse rather than just aggression, “Menetekel” is an experience worth enduring.

Score: 7.0