Label: Osmose Productions
Genre: Black Metal / War Black Metal
Format: Vinyl
Translation note:
“Vorleben” is German for “Former Life” or “Previous Existence.”
In context, it implies the life before war — identity, innocence, and humanity erased by conflict and trauma.
Description:
Vorleben (“Former Life”) is a suffocating, concept-driven release from Minenwerfer, exploring war as lingering psychological ruin rather than momentary violence. Focused on World War I themes, the album portrays conflict as an inescapable afterlife — where the self that existed before the trenches can never truly return.
Razor-edged tremolo riffs and relentless, martial drumming advance with grim discipline, while venomous vocals sound like fractured memories shouted through smoke and mud. The songwriting balances ferocity with narrative restraint, emphasizing pressure, repetition, and dread over chaos. Each track feels like a march through ruin, driven by inevitability rather than spectacle.
Rather than glorifying battle, Vorleben documents its residue: guilt, dislocation, and the erosion of identity. Black metal here functions as historical testimony and psychological reckoning — cold, focused, and unflinchingly honest.