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The Freezing DarknessNattsvargr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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NATTSVARGR - THE FREEZING DARKNESS (démo) |   | |||
| December 2003 - Nocturnal Abyss Records | |||||||
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Tracklist
1. Land of Suffering 2. The Freezing Darkness 3. Blod om Forntida 4. Wotan (Reborn Through the Blood of Christians) 5. Min Evig Sorg 6. Nattlig Kallande  add the album's lyrics |
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Review
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| Here we have the second demo from Nattsvargr, entitled "The Freezing Darkness." The backstory on this interests me a lot. With an album's worth of material written and ready to be recorded in 2003, everything did fall through as a delay was caused by the other members' primary band (a death/thrash project that has since faded into obscurity) and then Noctir's departure for Europe. With a couple of the songs that he had prepared already, he began to record near his residence in Stockholm. A few more were then written and recorded in the same sessions, as he had a great black fire burning within him and the will to create was too strong to deny.
Getting to the music, all instruments are handled by Noctir. What it loses in technical skill, he more than compensates with feeling. Musically, my first comparison would have to be to the Mutiilation demos, though the sound here is a little better. The first song, "Land of Suffering", begins with a very somber, midpaced riff. Drums come in around the 1:00 mark, followed by the vocals. The riff is quite melancholic, and my mind fills with memories of loss. Vocally, this song is the most restrained. "The Freezing Darkness" starts out with a midpaced riff, but then builds in speed to a full on black metal attack. The vocals are very morbid and dark, and I can only think of Dead or Nocturno Culto here. It is very well done, with absolutely no effects such as reverb. Near the end there is a very creepy solo, which is slow and sinister. The musicianship is not excellent, but the feeling is there. The song is very cold and epic black metal. I don't know if epic works with such minimalism, but here this is the only word I can do. "Blod om Forntida" is Swedish for Blood of the Ancients, and it begins with fast tremolo riffing and hate-filled vocals. I can hear the influences from old Darkthrone and Burzum in this song, especially during the middle as the main riff is slowed way down and Noctir's hateful vocals become much more tortured and filled with misery. Technically speaking, it again reminds me of the old Mutiilation work with regard to execution, and probably shares the same influences. The pace picks back up as the main riff speeds up once again and the vocals become even more hateful. "Wotan (Reborn Through the Blood of Christians)" follows the previous song, lyrically. It begins with a slow riff, similar to the mid-section of the previous song. Actually, it is very similar and I wonder if it is just an earlier version of that song with different lyrics. As the song speeds up, the main riff is still quite similar to that of the previous song, until the 1:55 mark where a new riff comes in. It's a little chaotic and disorganized as compared with the other songs here, but again I think the feeling of coldness and hatred come through very well. As the song ends, the pace slows down again with a mixture of tortured and misanthropic vocals. "Min Evig Sorg" is the best song on here, definitely. The title translates to My Eternal Sorrow. This is fast paced black metal, highly influenced by the old Norwegian bands such as Mayhem or Gorgoroth. Fast tremolo picking with a typical fast drum beat. The riffs are particularly cold and freeze my skin to hear this. The vocals are a little raspier here than on other songs, until the end which I think is the highlight of the whole album. The last few lines of this song truly send a chill down my spine. "Nattlig Kallande", which means Nocturnal Summoning in Swedish, is a short outro piece. It consists of only a single guitar riff played over and over, fading in and then fading out, with a few tortured screams laid over it. It really works for me as a good way to end this great demo album. Overall, this has a great mournful, cold feeling. The musicianship could have been better and I think these songs would benefit from being recorded with a full line-up. The highlight has to be Noctir's vocals, as this is what he specializes in. If you like raw and grim black metal in the vein of Mutiilation, Burzum and so on then you will appreciate this. The trouble may be obtaining copies, as I hear there were only a limited number made due to the circumstances. Best songs: "Min Evig Sorg" and "The Freezing Darkness" | ||
| 0 comment | Monday 17 December 2007 | |
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