Nebelhexe- Laguz: Within the Lake

Nebelhexë is something of a musical hybrid by Andrea Haugen, who previously worked in the realm of pagan-influenced traditional/folk music under the name Hagalaz' Runedance. Nebelhexë's brilliant new album, Laguz - Within the Lake, incorporates elements of Haugen's past work as well as goth rock, metal, and industrial influences. The resulting blend combines traditional instrumentation and song structures with distorted guitars, bass, synths, and programming…along with a few more straightforward goth rock offerings thrown in for good measure…for a set that is exceptionally melodic while also powerful and intense. For the uninitiated or those with a more mainstream musical background, think Loreena McKennitt backed by a versatile industrial/rock outfit. Haugen's captivating and emotive vocals, like her music, are something of a hybrid, combining both traditional and rock inflections and harmonies with an extremely interesting timbre. Everything coalesces into an incredible sonic blend that is cemented by universally excellent songwriting and production.

The album gets off to a great start with what is almost undeniably its best track, "Totems", combining traditional song structures and melodies with electronics, rock instrumentation, and simply stunning vocals. In fact, the album's first four tracks are all standouts, from the traditional instrumentation and heavy distorted chorus of the disc's title track to the memorable mellower offering "My Visual World" to the metallic industrial hammering, distorted guitar riffing, and celtic-influenced melodies and structures of "Celtic Crows". The lighter "Wake to Wither" is slightly less memorable but still quite strong, while the following "Reverse" is the disc's most straightforward goth rock/metal-oriented offering, and a rather exceptional one at that. "Raven Night - Nightflight Mix", apparently a reworked Hagalaz' Runedance song, and "Touch of Morpheus" are both amazing celtic rock tracks, the former being fairly danceable and the latter being another of the album's best. "Sleeping Beauty" is a slightly mellower offering with lush synth work driven by an undercurrent of orchestral percussion. The disc is rounded out by an extremely solid cover of Lene Lovich's "Bird Song", apparently a very influential song in Haugen's life, flawed only by its straightforwardness. Overall, the album's 10 tracks form an almost flawless set that's quite diverse yet cohesive.

The album is also something of a multimedia presentation. As a bonus, the disc is rounded out with a Quicktime video for "Wake to Wither". Also notable is the gothic and pagan influenced artwork and photography found throughout the album's booklet, despite the fact that, based on the credits, a fair number of pages seem to have been left out of the booklet on Candlelight's US pressing (or at least the promotional copy I received).

Laguz - Within the Lake is a passionate, spectacular album that's sure to please everyone from those that lean more toward the goth rock/metal spectrum to those that prefer mellower celtic/traditional offerings along the lines of Loreena McKennitt and Dead Can Dance. It definitely ranks among the best I've heard so far this year; an album that's artistically and intellectually stimulating yet also quite accessible, powerful, and emotive.