Belborn – 3 Drei Three

We are dealing with a numerical albumtitle here. I suppose there are two main reasons for calling this new album from the German act Belborn “3”. It is their third release (after the debut album and a vinyl single). And more important: the Belborn family has a new member! In the digipack you can find a picture of two people walking in the fields with a baby on their arm, so I suppose it are bandmembers Holger and Susanne with their child…

The musical style of Belborn can best be described as neo-folk, although not everyone in the neo-folk corner seems to appreciate them. Perhaps because the music of Belborn is rather synthetic and has many new wave-influences. Although various themes that their songs dealt with on the first album were rather typical for the neo-folk genre (fatherland, traditions, battlefields) the atmosphere was more romantic than militant. On the new album important themes seem to be death and love.

Personally I find the music of Belborn rather charming, the songs have good melodies that remain in your head and the vocals are pleasant to listen to. The lyrics are in German, but in the booklet the English translations are printed. Most surprising song is perhaps ‘Ich lieb sie’, an adaptation of an old wave song from Grauzone (the B-side of the hit ‘Eisbaer’), a very sweet and smooth song. The best tracks on this album according to me are ‘Am Ende aller Tage’ and ‘Neue Dammerung’. I found the debut album a little bit better, but I am not displeased with this new album too, which is more or less in the same style…

artist: Belborn
label: World Serpent
details: 12 tracks, 53 minutes