You can be forgiven if you have never heard of TOTAL NEGATION, just another Black Metal band right? You couldn't be further from the truth my friend. A one man project, TOTAL NEGATION have been swimming along quite happily in the Black Metal underground. Having released three full lengths within six years with no sign of slowing down, the band quickly became an oddity within the genre. Whilst following the path laid by other one man projects, there are nuances and touches to something far greater.

Opening with the chromatic, strained and harshly on edge notes that DSBM loves, "Betrachter" is more of a slow burner than you may expect. Vocals that are indeed harsh and rich in distress yet toned down from a typical release. Even the production as a whole is tight and single minded, none of the vast, loose, wall of noise approaches that clutter up many a CD rack. Despite the fact that the vocals are sung in German, there is an immediate connection with the audience.

"Fluchtling" mixes this album up with a far more melodic sound than the previous track. Even adding in some licks that sound overly joyous when compared to the bleak and suicidal background. The best thing, by far, about this album is that it knows exactly what it is. It's not trying to be the next massive selling thing that everyone wants, it is a personal written note that we are welcomed to experience. Every musical line has been painstakingly written to mean something. The term "all killer, no filler" has lost its edge recently but this is a prime example.

 Zeitzeuge is an album that needs to be listened to on a cold dark night, any other listening experience just is not doing it justice. You need to feel every heart wrenching drum beat and every single step of the bands descent into madness.<