Review by SzejkElRopa on February 10, 2026.

When it comes to black metal with a mountain theme, I have already reviewed a handful of albums implementing it into black metal music: from Minenwerfer's "Alpenpässe" and Mörkvind's "Versunkenes Reich", which are about the Alps, to Halny's "Zawrat", which is about the Tatra Mountains. Not far from the Zawrat Pass, also in Poland, are the Karkonosze Mountains, or, as others may refer to them, the Giant Mountains or Riesengebirge. A band called Brzask (in English: daybreak) decided to use the latter option, even though they hail from Poland. Because only the members know the reason behind this choice, let's talk about the music.

Brzask plays music that lies somewhere between black and death metal, with occasional more atmospheric passages. It can be said that about 90% of this album's content is crushing death metal with black metal-ish tremolo riffs. The album bursts with aggression most of the time, which completely differentiates it from the atmospheric black metal albums mentioned in the introduction. Brzask decided to take another direction and tried to implement the spirit of the mountains in their music. That can be noticed in the intro, for example, which starts the album with a slow melody, someone speaking in English, and the sound of the wind. Unfortunately, there aren't too many strictly atmospheric moments after that. There are, for example, short breaks in 'Frozen Horizon' and 'Ravens Of Łomnica', when an acoustic guitar can be heard. The same can be said about the intro to 'The Herbalist'. Nevertheless, the heavier part of this album is executed very well. With crushing tremolo riffs (as in the title track, for example), aggressive drumming throughout the whole album, and a great range of vocals, "Der Wanderer Im Riesengebirge" has plenty of arguments to encourage many black/death metal fans to listen to it. The melody in the middle and at the end of 'The Herbalist' is the best example of that. On the whole, despite the lack of atmospheric moments, this album is still a great piece of work.

What caught my ear the most were the vocals. I don't know if the information on Metal Archives is accurate, but Andrzej Jagielski or whoever was behind the microphone did an outstanding job. He doesn’t only harshly scream, which is pretty standard for this genre. He speaks words in the atmospheric break in 'Frozen Horizon', howls in 'Ravens Of Łomnica' and 'A Tale Of Sand And Fire', and whispers in 'The Herbalist'. However, my favorite vocal performance was in 'Spring Of The Sacred Elbe', when he snarled - it sounded very dark and evil. The guitar work is very good as well, with riffs ranging from traditional black metal to headbanging death metal. Every song is clearly different from the others, and that's another strong point of this album. Drums, as mentioned earlier, are very aggressive, though nothing extraordinary beyond that can be said about them. The bass guitar can be heard at some points, too.

"Der Wanderer Im Riesengebirge" is an album that should easily satisfy fans of black/death metal fusion. For me, it is a very good work, but at times the spirit of the mountains feels suppressed beneath the heavy guitar riffs, trying to break free but not fully succeeding. That’s why I am giving this album an 8.8 rating. Good, very enjoyable, but with room for improvement.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Review by Felix on June 16, 2025.

For more than two centuries, the Riesengebirge belonged to Prussia and to Germany. Today it is part of Poland and, to a lesser extent, of Czechia. Maybe this is the reason why the Polish newcomers Brzask (which means daybreak) chose a German title for their debut "Der Wanderer Im Riesengebirge". However, they also already used the Polish name of this region for their single "In The Forest Of Karkonosze". But no matter which language they prefer, one thing is for sure, the Silesian four-piece is a good promoter of its local mountains. The guys deliver 39 minutes of solid to good music, no stinker must be endured.

Brzask cruise between death and black metal. Everything is done with the sledgehammer rather than a finer tool. Melodic fragments appear from time to time, but there are no enchanting harmonies that we know from the bands that have cultivated a spooky elegance. Blast beats and further violent drumming scream for a pretty harsh appearance and the throaty black metal vocals point into the same direction. A few parts crush the maelstrom of terror and speak a softer language, but they do not imprint their mark on the album. Brzask split skulls violently and their songs are well arranged. There is only one thing I have to criticise. It takes time until the neither progressive nor experimental but somewhat bulky songs keep sticking in the ear, at least to a certain extent. Complexity is not always an advantage and maybe the guys should concentrate on less bombastic patterns. Nevertheless, in particular "The Herbalist" and the title track lend the album a strong and pleasant flavour.

Another little weakness of the debut is that atmospheric parts remain rare. The intro of "The Herbalist" puts the focus on mood, but generally speaking, the lack of mystic atmosphere is regrettable. I thought that they give the music an appearance that goes hand in hand with the legends and sagas of the sung region. Okay, the English / Polish / Latin / German lyrics deal with regional topics and Rübezahl, the mountain ghost of the Riesengebirge, shows up. But the pretty devastating death metal ingredients do not allow him to spread his fabulous aura. At least he has found his place on the stylish artwork of this densely produced full-length. Do not expect an overdose of nuances, the mix hammers on you as a whole. Sometimes it sounds as if the powerful drums are driving the rest of the gang forward, but fortunately the production doesn't reveal any gross imbalance. To summarize, it can be said that Brzask have released an interesting debut with an individual, but never senselessly exotic approach. Naturally there is room for optimization, but this was just their first full statement. I am curious to see which actions this metallic Rübezahl will take next.

Rating: 7.1 out of 10