This major new compilation from Percht, the Sturmpercht-related subdivision of the Austrian industrial label Steinklang, is just an outstanding and ambitious piece of work. Wilde Jäger (‘Wild Hunters’) features 24 tracks spread over two CDs, all themed around the folklore and traditional customs and festivals of the Alps. Austrian and German acts are naturally well-represented, and the usual roll-call of Ahnstern-related artists are all present and correct. German-speaking artists include Sturmpercht, Allerseelen, Hekate, Werkraum, Ernte, Jahrtal, Heiliges Licht, Haberfeld, Magdalena, Elli Riehl, Soulsearch and Jägerblut, whilst fellow travellers from further afield include Bulgarians Svarrogh, Hungarians Scivias, Azoreans The Joy Of Nature, Italians Teatro Satanico and Foresta di Ferro, Galicians Sangre Cavallum, and Americans Waldteufel, Hamramr and A Minority Of One.

Whilst the music presented varies quite a lot, including traditional folk, industrial ambient, black and pagan metal styles, the strong central theme holds everything together nicely, and recurrent motifs on Wilde Jäger include ritualistic sacral drones, Alpenhorns, accordion, jangling cowbells, forest sounds, village bands, crackling flames, the crunch of footsteps on snow, and howling storm-winds. ‘Werden’ by Hamramr neatly includes many of these features, and is among the highlights of disc one.

Other outstanding tracks on the first disc include Svarrogh’s opening track ‘Das Raunend Gebirg’ (which to my delight includes plenty of the organic percussion I’ve been urging Svarrogh to make greater use of), Waldteufel’s metallic ‘Rabenbrot (‘Raven-bread’, i.e. carrion) and the evocative, experimental, Hati-like sound collage of A Minority Of One’s ‘Die Nachtsschar’. Werkraum’s ‘Heirre Rife’ is a reworking with accordion of ‘Wunde Und Dorn’ from the Kristalle MCD. Allerseelen’s ‘Rauhnachtmaske’ is frenetic and noisy, but is, I’m sad to say, far from the best work to come from this act. Disc two opens dramatically with ‘Om Selvarech’, a brooding martial industrial piece by Fanes with metal guitar and eerie choral vocals, and other tracks which particularly caught my attention included Elli Riehl’s crashingly bombastic ‘Wilde Kraut’, Foresta di Ferro’s clang-fest sound collage ‘Schignano’ and Jahrtal’s lengthy lament ‘Innsbruck, Ich Muß Dich Lassen’ (‘Innsbruck, I must leave you’). Incidentally, the two discs bear no identifying text or numbers, and are only distinguished by bearing different images of masks, which can be confusing until you’ve learned to tell which disc is which.

In addition to the manifold musical delights to be discovered, Wilde Jäger is a visual treasure-house. The triple gatefold digipack sleeve features paintings by Waldteufel’s Markus Wolff, and there’s a booklet full of haunting images of grotesque wooden Perchten masks adorned with horns and antlers, shaggy mountain-goat costumes, rugged cairns constructed by the side of lonely, windswept mountain paths, and strange shrines hidden away in caves deep in the mountains. These images are presented without explanatory texts, but they nevertheless bear eloquent witness to a vibrant folk tradition. The Perchten masks in particular radiate a shadowy, shamanic glamour as powerful as that of any ritual artefact from Native American, Pacific or African tribal cultures. Those desiring further initiation into the Alpine mysteries will impatiently await the publication of the companion book to Wilde Jäger, entitled Men Masks & Myth, scheduled for later on in 2008. The book will feature parallel texts in German and English, and will be accompanied by a further CD of field recordings of authentic Alpine village celebrations. There are also plans for a deluxe limited edition of the album, with a wooden box and a bonus 3” CD. In the meantime, Wilde Jäger is a deeply absorbing and thoroughly recommended listening experience, offering a fascinating insight into the vivid völkisch traditions of the snow-capped peaks, densely forested slopes and valley-nestled villages of Alpine Europe.

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