Reviewing Inner Nocturne is reviewing a very big part. Indeed, this one man band led by the Polish guy Tomasz Grzelak has not followed the easy way as he is taking a path full of progressive and convoluted tracks thanks to a symphonic and atmospheric black metal inspired by cosmos. The first album, “
Gates to Immortality” allows the listeners to confront themselves to an one-hour work full of tracks that can last up to eight minutes each, so speaking of a big part is not an euphemism…
We, listeners, discover the identity of the band with the first song, “inferno”. No introduction here, contrary to most of the symphonic black metal bands, even if the first minute is calm and serene. This unveils the identity of Tomasz’s project. The young man knows how to make his music progress, in a gradual way, by offering us a particular atmosphere thanks to well-placed keyboard layers. The guitar is the guiding thread throughout the music and accompanies the instrumentation as well as the vocals which alternate black metal howls and death metal growls. One must not expect something fast because of the atmospheric side of the music and we would have loved some accelerations (just a few blast beats) and some fast moments to breathe life into the music. In this way, “Iter Ad
Infinitum” is struggling to draw our attention even if the instrumentation is good.
Despite this element, one can say that the Inner Nocturne black metal style is a kind of mixture between
Satyricon and
Arcturus stuff.
“
Dark Antimatter Mystica” is more grandiloquent with its symphonic intro which highlights the cosmic side of Inner Nocturne’s music. The atmosphere is going on and on with a lead guitar that should have had more strength. It’s not that powerful comparing to the great keyboards. The same for the one-dimensional voice…actually, I would say that Tomasz sounds more comfortable with the death metal growl vocal than the black metal howl.
There is, however, a track that stands out from the crowd: “Stellar Sabath”. Not because it’s the best track ever or whatever. Just because it’s the shorter (2 min) and the most experimental one. Tomasz allows his keys to play a greater role in his music. We discover a very mysterious track filled with space ambient elements. “A Day of No Sun” also stands out from the crowd thanks to its strange choirs and its more proeminent dynamism. It easily reminds me
Shade Empire but with a more ethereal touch.
Inner Nocturne offers us long tracks, with changing structures and convoluted parts. He takes the risk to lose his listeners along the way with the eight minute-tracks and the lack of accelerations, the contrary would have prevent the songs from being too linear and calm. But I really like the keys, especially on “Aera
Draconis”, a very epic track with spatial hints, a risky way to make us listen to a great song.
“
Gates to Immortality” shows us an ambitious solo project created by a musician who does not want to copy his favorite bands. To the contrary, he proposes something original, with its own personality.
Despite the length and the lack of dynamism, this is a nice album built by only one guy who absolutely knows how to control his instruments.
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