So much time of waiting forces to reflection on the reason why it took so long to record/release it and what is the final effect. This long period of time might be reasonable if we considered that Nihil Nocturne’ previous album –Necrohell- was very good (actually one of the best bm ever made in Germany) and this one –Wahnsinn.Tod.Verrat- could not have been worse. Expectations towards this album were high, and I think that they have been fulfilled.

Wahnsinn is surely a step forward in bands craft. This demon is almost 50 minutes long which is very unusual for a black metal album. However, unlike many others in this genre, this one is not stuffed with wasteful fillers. Its structure is deliberate and it arranges a flawless musical trip.

The trip is opened by an ‘exotic’ introduction followed by typical for Nihil Nocturne, heavy and quite slow guitar riff. This overpowering effect is achieved thanks to the clever mixing of riffs with anemic keyboards, a very dreamy atmosphere which might be compared to Christ Agony – Darkside album. Through the whole time of listening we experience various tempo changes and the interlacing of many elements. Here are fast blast beats as well as slow and powerful drumming moments, dreamy keyboards mixed up with acoustic guitars, raw elements suddenly transforming into ambient tracks, in other words everything we could have expected from this great band.

The main problem of this album is that it sounds very soft. This may be its most disappointing feature, especially for raw bm maniacs. We won’t find here this apocalyptic, nuclear atmosphere which exudes from Necrohell. Wahnsinn.Tod.Verrat is rather calm misanthropy and depression covered in opium tune. Its lyrics are full of grief, solitude and they most of all, express the ancient, antichristian hate. That is pure death worship, psychopathic drowning into madness of evil. Vigridr and Nordvinth sing like demons writhing after being touched with a cross or a holy water, their venomous voices create really demonic, occult atmosphere.

All things considered, this album is my type for the best ’06 album. Great, unforgettable music together with the brilliant artwork and vast booklet is surely an overwhelming virtue. Wahnsinn, however, has only one defect – the softness of the whole is especially hearable in ‘Succumb, Host!’ beginning. Its so unpleasant that first minutes of this track just must be skipped, but its final part is so gruesome that it makes up this flaw.