Band's List Black Dark Nic Demo

As far as ridiculous names go ?????? is taking the fucking piss with this one, being the unfortunate person who added this band to the site I had to abbreviate the bands name to Nic as they have referenced themselves in that way, and for sanities sake I am very glad for that choice. After all who could find a band called ??????? Yeah, great move their guys, choose a name so obscure that NO ONE can find you. This band must absolutely hate publicity with a passion as they've done absolutely nothing to make themselves noticeable.

Ridiculous name aside how does this bands music hold up? Quite well actually, if you can get past the ridiculous amount of pretentiousness encountered with their name, then the music is a decent offering of Post Black Metal. My first comparison would have to be Altar Of Plagues, the band has a very raw and atmospheric sound akin to White Tomb by the aforementioned band, yet lacking the sense of droning ambiance that characterised White Tomb, Nic are able to stand firmly on their feet. Their sound may not be entirely unique, being the usual Post Black Metal that has been popping up as of late, but I can't deny that they do this overused style darn well. The music on this little Demo is ridiculously raw and aggressive, a nice change from the glossy packaging of Alcest. The music doesn't lack this genres bite, it still feels ideologically Black Metal which I also appreciate. The production is really bad, the guitar tone ear splitting and the vocals unintelligible. Unlike most Post Black Metal bands, Nic don't follow the cleaner and more glossy sound of bands like Alcest, their music still contains the post rock elements but in comparison with their contemporaries Nic are far more vile and raw, keeping that Black Metal bite I love so much.

The music Nic play is quite easy to describe, Post Black Metal in the vain of Ireland's Altar Of Plagues yet lacking the droning sense of ambiance and the utterly bleak and harrowing atmosphere. The music feels more human that Altar Of Plagues, lacking the bleak industrial backdrop to the music, creating a more melancholic and introspective view of humanity rather than the eco terrorist hateful views of Altar Of Plagues. The music is quite depressing yet also managing to be quite angry as well, the guitar tone and vocals helping this the most. The guitar tone is really harsh and abrasive, its thin, too thin, almost like a dentist drill, it creates a really vicious wall of sound over the music, reminding me of Ulver's infamous Nattens Madrigal though it's nowhere near as excruciating as that album. The guitar tone despite being thin as ice still has a sense of weight to it, it may not be much but it's enough for what this album is trying to do. The guitars are also quite melodic for an album this raw, the guitar lines carry a lot of emotional weight and atmosphere to the music, the guitars despite being really raw never feel too cold, there's still some humanity buried in there although there's a sense that it's fading. The whole album has an atmosphere that conjures up images of a decrepit human being in a derelict old house trying so desperately to cling onto their last bastion of humanity yet it's slowly fading. I realize this is the most ridiculous analogy of a bands sound that I have ever possibly done but I couldn't think of any other way to describe it, it's ridiculous but it's true. The atmosphere this album creates really does sound like this to me!

The vocals in particular are what causes this album to lose much of its humanity, they're harshly distorted and are buried under the unbearably distorted guitars, they're a great touch to this album complimenting the atmosphere nicely. Although it's a shame the vocals aren't louder in the mix because they are admittedly well performed, the way they are produced only adds to the albums detached and dehumanized atmosphere and I wouldn't have it any other way.

If emotional Post Black Metal with terrible production sounds like something you'd enjoy then this album is an absolute must buy. It may not be ground breaking or treading new waters but for what it is it's exceptionally well played and thought out, this band will hopefully go a long way in the black metal scene.