PODCAST: Chaos Sedated #169 (Awen, Der Blutharsch, Rome)

Grim King of the Ghosts is the second album from the American neofolk project Awen after their 2009 debut The Bells Before Dawn, though the band has had much activity in the intervening years with limited singles and compilation appearances. The album was released on the Italian Old Europa Café label in a digipak format with a pressing of 300 copies. It contains thirteen tracks, totaling fifty minutes of music that straddles the neofolk and martial genres, with hints of dark ambient/industrial.

This is a concept album, and per the promotional text it “stands as a sonic dedication to the ties that bind this world to the spectral” and is “rooted in the concept of the Grim Grey King.” The music and songs which Awen employ on Grim King of the Ghosts is successful at bringing this concept to fruition, with the overall album showcasing musical acumen, standout songs, memorable lyrics (in a variety of languages), and vocals that range from bombastic to seductive. Awen, helmed by Erin Powell and Katrin X—along with a plethora of other musicians including b9 InVid (from Et Nihil and the now-defunct, infamous industrial project Luftwaffe)—brings a musical diversity to Grim King of the Ghosts which ranges from haunting and unnerving to militant, mystic, and folky, while managing to keep each track’s sounds canonical for the entire experience.