Ellende kicks off its fifteenth year with a new album.
For L.G. (all instruments/vocals), 2026 begins with the release of Zerfall, his sixth album, on AOP Records, immediately followed by a European tour.
The drums are once again recorded by P.F. (drums, Karg, live for Harakiri for the Sky).
The album begins with the ethereal Nur, a quite short and melancholic composition in which the instruments gently lull us, welcoming a sampled voice before the rhythm intensifies and fully embraces its darkness, then releases us onto Wahrheit Teil I, where it takes full possession of the riffs and invokes striking screams. The track progresses at a fairly heavy pace, still offering us moments of release and intoxicating leads or a few soothing choruses before letting the violence overwhelm us again, absorbing this basis of tranquility and finally integrating it into its wave that leads to Wahrheit Teil II, where we find peace for a moment. However, it is short-lived, naturally giving way to a new progressive blaze to return to the painful lament which, once finished, allows the track to become more energetic and catchy, only to resume, speeding towards the eponymous track Zerfall where keyboards await us. The sound calmly captivates us, then suddenly becomes a little more unpredictable, adopting its long-awaited darkness and carrying us away in its haunting current, releasing all its flavor and icy screams before granting us a moment of respite to join Übertritt, which immediately proves threatening. Personally, I remain on my guard even when the clear choirs fill the atmosphere, but that doesn’t stop the arrival of saturation from surprising me and carrying my mind away in its fluctuating flow between rage and temporary calm that occur before Ode ans Licht reveals intriguing Post-Rock tones. Of course, saturation is never far away, but the track remains fairly gentle and accessible, both in its enchanting rhythm and its vocal parts, before reaching Zeitenwende Teil I (featuring Klara Bachmair‘s violin from Firtan) and its equally dreamy introduction, which will metamorphose into a whirlwind of fury. More raw Old School touches also appear, fueling the omnipresent contrast before letting Zeitenwende Teil II blow us away in turn, taking advantage of an unexpected acceleration to release its full essence. Then, with oppressive and jerky tones, L.G. captivates us, leaving the majestic solos to Peter Mairhofer (Norikum) before resuming his poetic lamentations. We find a female vocal sample mingling with the keyboards to begin Reise, like a kind of logbook before embarking on harmonics that leave us drifting between cries, then a sampled male voice announces the ignition of the track, rushing us tirelessly towards another striking finale and its final occupying tone. The album is not over yet, however, as it continues with Secunda, a keyboard cover of Jeremy Soule‘s composition for the game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which fits perfectly with the atmosphere of Ellende, followed by Verborgenes inneres Leiden, an even more melancholic piano bonus track that barely allows a few whispers to join in, this time bringing the album to a close.
To say that Ellende is now one of the benchmarks of dark musical sadness is an understatement, given how the band has forged its melancholy over the course of its albums, but I feel that with Zerfall, the intensification of its live performances in recent years has given it a slightly different touch.
95/100