 |
| Dunkelheit Produktionen, 2018 |
“She is large and I am small -- but
Oh! How I dance and prance ‘round all!
And though she's queen
How I will glean
Her only child as I'd foreseen”
To wager with the mischievous might be one of our most exciting activities. Tricksters are charming creatures, not only by presence, but mainly because they’ve always given us the idea that we could outsmart them. We could out riddle the troll on the bridge, trick Mephisto in his own game, wrangle the ring from Gollum’s fingers, or guess Rumpelstiltskin’s name. These creatures offer us an exciting gamble. And we'll probably lose, but there’s always a chance. Isn’t there?
Fiendish Imp fully taps into this mischievous atmosphere. Its melodies are quirky but carry a weight that doesn’t become clear until we’ve reached the latter part of the record. Within 18 minutes it slowly transforms its airy and playful attitude to a much more serious and foreboding one, successfully mirroring old folklore in the process. This subtle switch of attitude - and the rather short playtime - really encourages repeated listens. To be honest, I’ve been returning to this little devil since its release in October 2018.
It saddens me to say that the Imp has outsmarted me.
I’ve fallen under its spell and signed my name.
TL;DR: A captivating and malevolent effort.
