2023 marks the 20-year anniversary of Horn, a German melodic black metal act under the sole direction of a man better known by his stage name, Nerrath. Nerrath’s output through Horn is consistent in its epic and spacious atmosphere, backed up by solid performances and songwriting. Horn’s early releases feature a lo-fi style full of buzz and muffling (maybe a good thing for kvlt purists, but not so accessible for most), while the production since 2017’s Turm Am Hang has been much more up to modern standards. Because of this shift, Horn got many more listeners than before and that is why Nerrath decided to celebrate Horn’s 20th by releasing its latest album, 20 Jähre (German for “20 years”). This album presents a few songs from the early years of the project, except now they have been completely rerecorded — sometimes even rewritten — and the production is up to the band’s current standard.
If the goal of 20 Jähre is to make more palatable, modern-sounding versions of songs from Horn’s past, then it is a great success. The best example might be the first song, “Höhen,” a reworked version of “Wo alte Fichten aus grünen Höhen ragten,” from one of Horn’s earliest demos. The original song makes for a difficult listen due to its grating production and needless interludes, but “Höhen” eliminates these issues and makes a dynamic and enjoyable banger out of it.
Other songs like “The Fading Landscape’s glory” and “Spätherbst” were fully fleshed-out in their original albums, but still get a boost in 20 Jähre from clearer production, more expressive performances and spicy songwriting tweaks. Some of the songs have qualities in their original versions that don’t shine through as much in their reimaginings, such as the ferocity of the original “The Grandest of all Blades,” but even in these cases the new versions are fresh and enjoyable in their own right. There is even a bonus song at the end, the previously unreleased “Fahrwasser,” which is a melancholy yet satisfying end to the album.
Listeners unfamiliar with Horn’s early work might rather treat 20 Jähre like its own standalone release, as they would be hearing the songs for the first time in their new versions. When perceiving this album only as Horn’s latest release, it still holds up as a solid work of melodic black metal, but it feels different from other recent albums. When Horn switched to its current production style, it came with more fast-paced, dynamic songwriting as well and so albums like Turm Am Hang and Mohngang (2020) were a change of pace. Because 20 Jähre mostly honors the pace and emotion of older Horn songs, it is a more repetitive and moderate experience than other recent albums.
Whether you already are a fan of Horn or not, 20 Jähre is a rock solid black metal album. Fans of slower, solemn melodic black metal will especially enjoy this record and will probably enjoy it more and more with repeated listens. People looking to get into Horn in general might have a better time starting with the faster-paced Turm Am Hang or Mohngang, but anyone who has enjoyed Horn before will most likely get into it very quickly.
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