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Morbid Night of MelancholyNattsvargr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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NATTSVARGR - MORBID NIGHT OF MELANCHOLY (démo) |  | |||
| July 2007 - Nocturnal Abyss Records | |||||||
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Tracklist
1. An Ancient Bloodthirst 2. The Light of Funeral Torches 3. Morbid Night of Melancholy  add the album's lyrics |
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article viewed 324 times
Review
  note : 20/20 | ||
| Being one of the few people to own this band’s first demo, and to have sat in on a handful of rehearsals in years past, I am probably more qualified than most to review this demo. Where the band’s previous work tended to be much more inspired by the 80s BM bands, this is more related to the second wave sound.
The first thing you feel when you play this demo is a terrible cold come over your bones. This is raw black metal and it is cold as a fuckin blizzard. The first song, “An Ancient Bloodthirst” is easily the best song on here. The sound is very Scandinavian in its approach. You’d never think this band was from the U.S. The guitar sound dominates the mix and it is filled with a dark and hateful feeling. The song is pretty fast-paced at first, but it gets sort of mid-paced in the middle, before speeding back up again. It ends with a brilliant guitar solo that has Bathory written all over it. And, really, that and the vocals are the only ties to the earlier work from this band. The vocals really make the song for me. They are perfect and remind me of Nocturno Culto. The sound sticks with you and that is something I think is important. You don’t just hear it and forget it two seconds later. It stays with you. It haunts your mind. The second song is titled “The Light of Funeral Torches.” This song is very dark and sinister. The pace is quite slower than the first track and it serves to keep things interesting. The imagery you get is that of a funeral procession. The vocals and riffs come together to create a dark and sinister atmosphere that really makes you think of “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.” The riffs and vocals would not be out of place on that album, at all. The haunting whispers fill my heart with dread and the miserable shrieks send chills down my spine. It is a longer song than the first and does not bore me at all. There is this wonderful piece near the end that sounds like a violin wailing in agony but I’ve been told it’s actually the guitar. Truly, the more I think of it the more I am reminded of Deathspell Omega’s “SMRC” album. You can tell that some work went into this. This was not slapped together over the weekend, by any means. Finally, we have “Morbid Night of Melancholy.” This song begins much like the first, being a faster song. The fast tremolo guitar style betrays the Scandinavian influences again, which is not a bad thing at all. This is certainly no Darkclone band. Here, the riffs are actually inspired and inspiring. I don’t care for music that doesn’t make me feel something. This definitely holds my attention and then some. There are enough riff changes while still remaining very primitive in its approach. My one complaint is that the vocals seem to be too low in the mix on this one. Again, the sound is high and sharp. There’s not much bass to be heard on this and that’s a very good thing. About halfway through, the vocals seem to get back up in the mix and I’m very glad they did! Listening to this, I’d imagine this was the result of a team effort from Nocturno Culto and Varg Vikernes. I can hardly imagine that all of this is coming from the same person. And the riff near the middle, as the song slows down is truly breathtaking. It reminds me of something from the first Burzum album or Beherit’s “Drawing Down the Moon.” The song ends with one of the most miserable riffs in black metal and you can really feel the pain of the vocalist as well. Despite minor complaints in the mixing, this is a gem! Any fan of true black metal that is tired of uninspired garbage, look no further. This is the real deal. This demo shows a great amount of potential and I cannot wait for a proper LP from these guys. Get this as soon as you can and keep a fire burning close by as your hands will probably freeze from touching it. | ||
| 0 comment | Saturday 29 September 2007 | |
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