From Bandcamp, "CINEASTRE is a German Black Metal and Dark Folk project that was brought to life in 2018 by Wintergeist. It is music meant to touch the soul, reaching to depict the beauty of poetry, folklore, mysticism, dark woodland and the scents of nature." Their debut album has eight songs, and "Prolog: Waldeinsamkeit" is the first. It's a very short mood-setter. Doleful acoustic guitars tell a tale of beauty, and sadness. "Suche" is next. The music is slow, and cautious at first, like peering out the window at another rainy day. It picks up a bit from there, but it stays in the muck for much of the song...depressing, and despondent.

"Fallersleben" is a shorter offering with a little more energy, and a little more rage. I like the contrasting styles so far. Clean and depressing tones occupy the middle, and hardened tones take up the end. "Herbstvergänglichkeit" features a mostly clean song from start to finish with simple, but elegant melodies. It makes me feel kind of down, but also happy at the same time. That feeling is hard to describe, but I appreciate the diversity. "Winterromantik" features ominous clean vocals...because they are in German, I don't know what they are saying, but the opening tones are tense. What follows is both dark and brooding, with harsh vocals. Following a droning passage, the sound changes to quicker towards the end.

"Auf goldenen Pfäden" is another short offering that breaks up the longer songs nicely. It is here where the band does most of their exploration, in clean, pretty tones. "Nebel" is a three-minute song with a mid-tempo pace and harsh vocals that strike you hard in the face like the cold does when you step outside. "Epilog: Unter Sternen" closes the album; another short song with doleful melodies. The band does these songs very well. Overall, this was a promising album that altered the common path of Black Metal. The Darker, Folk element augmented the sound quite well, and the smooth tones made for a more enjoyable listening experience for this Black Metal fan. I am intrigued to hear what the band might do next.