Review by Felix on November 18, 2025.

After less than eight months, Mr Scheusal believes he must already bring a successor to his respectable debut onto the market. And why not? We Germans love speedy and clear decisions. Invade Poland, why not?

Well, maybe you and me know one or two reasons for not doing these things. Moreover, fast-paced rhythms are better than a rapid publication frequency. Sadly, "Fressfeind" does not shine with high velocity sections. It is no bad album, but it gives the impression of assembly line work. The lengths of the songs reinforce this feeling. All songs clock in between three and four minutes, but more relevant is that the musical content does not show anything new, anything surprising or anything outstanding. This second album seems to be done for the sake of having a second album. I am not quite sure whether or not this is enough artistic ambition. Probably not.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want the one man army called Scheusal to sound non-authentic. If this is what the guy wants to offer, without different atmosphere and without elements that break up the monolithic-yet-slightly-boring surrounding – okay. But this does not mean that I must share this / his point of view. A debut can be a defiant statement of narrow-mindedness, but its successor can and should usually allow itself a few flash lights of new ideas, if I am not mistaken. Scheusal deliver more of the same in a more or less acceptable, but definitely less good quality. That's somewhat problematic.

One important factor for the less impressive overall picture is the weakness of the choruses. Scheusal fail to manage some catchy refrains that grab the listener by the white, blue or just dirty collar. From this follows that the averagely produced songs come and go, leaving a trail of rather simple black metal without triggering the wish to listen to them again. Neither the ordinary, quite dull guitar lines nor the distorted, raw voice add the magic component that makes metal to great music. And even though I would not say that the material lacks substance, it is no wonder that this album ends before crossing the 32 minute mark. So the debut has proven the talent and potential of the lone wolf, but in my humble opinion, the more or less substandard "Fressfeind" falls short of expectations. Unfortunately, much of it sounds like it was intended but not executed well. Maybe it would be a good idea to integrate a quality check of the material before the third album is released. Why not.

Rating: 5.8 out of 10