Metal Reviews
Metal Reviews
NOkTURNAL MORTUM |
| Nokturnal Mortum
are : Knjaz Varggoth on Vocals, Guitar and Roaring Bass Guitar Karpath on Guitar Xaarquath on Bass Munruthel on Drums Sataroth on Keyboards Saturious on Keyboards The tracks are : 1. Black Moon Overture 2. Kuyaviya 3. Goat Horns 4. Unholy Orathania 5. Veles' Scrolls 6. Kolyada 7. Eternal Circle I could have watched MTV's Superock, (but what the point as most of the videos they show are a few years old, and some of them are SHIT!! and I can't stand Miss Valet's dribble in between each video), or I could have gone to bed, but instead I decided to listen to Goat Horns for the third time today. WHY, because, I just can't belive what I've heard and simply must listen to it again, just incase I missed something the last time round. You see, Goat Horns is a black metal album, and a very good one indeed. So good infact that it puts bands like Cradle Of Filth and Old Man's Child in the shade. HOW, well read on and I will reveal all. If you judged every book by it's cover, you would think oh, no not another death metal band, the cover, the title, even the band photo, do nothing to deter from that 'B' movie feel, but put the CD in and press play and what you have is an album that pushes the boundaries of black metal and hopefully makes it more accessible to everyone. The opening track 'Black Man Overture' is a fine example of what I am talking about, basically it's classical music. That's right, something even the London Symphony Orchestra would be proud off, it's mean, moody and because it's mainly classical, it makes you sit up in anticipation of what lies ahead. Nokturnal Mortum hail fro the Ukraine and even manage to combine traditional Ukraine music in with their black metal, but it's not just this, that puts them head and shoulders above the rest. Even the vocalist, which in terms of black metal is usually no more than grunts and groans, are much more controlled and distinguishable and never at any time overshadow the music. The best example of this is the title track 'Goat Horns', the whole thing stands out with some excellent sound effects, church bells, howling wind, then an acoustic guitar cuts in above the keyboards and then the metal hits you full in, full power, but wait, just when you were getting nice and relaxed, used to the style, they throw in traditional Ukraine folk music as well. Amazing, this can be heard again on the excellent 'Kolyada' Now one thing, I must point out, although I've been going on about how wonderfully different this album is, with all the different effects,etc. One thing for sure, when it comes down to it, Nokturnal Mortum can play metal like a bastard and this is a very heavy album. This is without doubt Black Metals finest hour (well 51:43 minutes Go and add this to your collection NOW!! Personally I can't wait for the follow up. Nokturnal Mortum Website : http://www.rusmetal.ru/mortum Released by The End Records. 556 S. Fair Oaks Avenue #101-111. Pasadena. CA 91105 USA. Tel : 626 403 6952 Fax : 626 403 2848 Website : http://www.mythosmedia.com/theend Emial : theend@mythosmedia.com |
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NeChrist Nokturnal Mortum |
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First the fall of Babylon and now this… I mean, don't the Ukrainians have enough to worry about! In fact, "NeChrist" or "Anti-Christ" is about as violent a musical interpretation of the chaos and corruption swelling over the ravaged country… but, not just the average Black Metal noise staged after mass-discontent, what makes this album is that amidst all the savagery taking place, there lies beneath a lurking Slavic melody, folk-inspired and prepared in some cases from the use of ancient instrumentation! Before the impending doom… and you can make a case for during and after should you survive this, "NeChrist" is really a clever accomplishment that strives beyond the ranks of descending darkness. "Night Before the Fight" actually rages forth with a gripping guitar groove, sometime around what appears to be the chorus-or whatever might be interpreted as such here. If you think in terms of early Emperor, the similarities do exist… then there's the opening to track three which is amongst the many found totally in Russian, and you're reminded of the latest shade of Mortiis and that evil folklore he unleashed from above not so long ago. But forget that half the songs are done in Russian anyway… if you can make out a single word from within this decibel drowning desecration, they haven't done their job-and I'll be damned if I'll be the one to make such a suggestion. Though you might be damned just as well trying to get through this with your life in order! But truthfully, as far as those who make up the blackest of the black-and they're right there, they're place in Hell long since prepared for them - "NeChrist" is a truly dark spirit that stands out on its own… a creatively crafted conspiratory war on the world! Nokturnal Mortum Website :
http://www.rusmetal.ru/mortum Review by Vinnie Apicella |
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Lunar Poetry Nokturnal Mortum |
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Now how's this to dampen a beautiful spring day… Endless darkness, tragedy and transgressive tales of woe… "Lunar Poetry" was their very first recording, originally unavailable in CD format and here five years later, for the first time relive the nocturnal forces that came to play within what is widely recognized as one of the most revered Black Metal creations. All the features were in place here-the chilling atmosphere and spiritual keyboard progressions hovering over wrenching guitar melodies that are as beautifully soothing as they are deadly. "Lunar Poetry's" title evokes the very nature of what this band was and maintains to this day, riding the rails of pure Hades while incorporating the mesmerizing elements familiar to Goth listeners but wholly more tranquil and a touch more tragic. "Tears of Paganism" fogs up the foreseeable distance momentarily settling the listener into a false sense of complacency before the title tracks grabs you in its clutches, seemingly wrenching every last ounce of lifeblood before taking you into impending damnation… one that beckons oh so sweetly under the false façade of a pale moonlight. But amidst all of the dread and devastation lies a body of emotion, written within folk-like passages, crafty as they are catchy, stimulating as they are sordid, while the ravenous vocal exploits of one Varggoth, who's bi-polar latitudes reach silence shattering screams onto a gentle whisper while drawing upon all points between. One of the more tastefully written and performed Black Metal pieces, "Lunar Poetry," an unsettling vision, vaguely obscured, their first and for many a definable moment and no less is true here. Amazingly thorough and superior on many levels, one need only seek out "Autodafe/Barbarians Dreams" in all its blackened splendor for the measure of the heightened talent level for this band, welcoming the elements of life, death, and post-Frost melodrama and modernism put to death, plus the addition of concluding bonus tale "Return of the Vampire Lord" which runs over ten minutes in length and much like the preceding, blends a fiery mix of power, speed, symphonic and atmospheric textures that alone make "Lunar Poetry" an elite addition to the catacomb of any dark music collector. Released by The
End Records. 556 S. Fair Oaks Avenue #101-111. Pasadena. CA 91105
USA. Review by Vinnie
Apicella [va85@columbia.edu] |