Rating: 7/10
Release: 2011
Label: Whiterock Records

Wow, scary! You put on the new Cumulo Nimbus, and there’s nothing unusual at first. It starts off with a short intro in which al the necessary traditional instrument are accompanied by an electrical guitar. Nothing unexpected so far. But then, a sweet female voice singing at me? That’s not the Cumulo Nimbus we were used to!
It appears to be the result of a line-up change which took place last year in Cumulo Nimbus. The original singer Mathis has stepped down to the background, and Binia is contracted in the front-lines as a female singer. The six Germans are still making this typical German folk-rock, but with female voices this time. With ‘Schattenjager’ the band releases their third studio-album, with 10 tracks and an intro. All songs sound like we may expect, German folk, easy listening, building further on the fundamentals of their previous albums. The songs are all mid-tempo, with a few quieter pieces among them. Nowhere on the album they really hit the accelerator, and that’s the weak side of this album. The songs lack a bit of spices every now and then, in this way the records becomes a streaming river just passing us by without any spectacular spots.
The issue you can’t get around with this CD, the new female singer. You have to get used to it, but she is clearly a plus for the music of Cumulo Nimbus, without losing a lot of the original sound. A very good piece of work of this new singer! Is she better that the old singer Mathis, I dare not say, they are to different to draw this conclusion.
In short, it’s a decent album of the ladies and gentlemen of Cumulo Nimbus. A pity they never drive up the speed somewhere. When you are a fan of German (Medieval) folk, than you surely have to listen to this!

Tracklist

1. Neumond
2. Traumjäger
3. Tor im Eis
4. Letzter Akt
5. Sternzeichen
6. Figura Obscura
7. Schattenkind
8. Leiermann
9. Gemma
10. Pastyme