Band's List Black Metal Nyktalgia Peisithanatos

Usually when a band releases a debut that receives pretty much universal acclaim, the follow up usually doesn't live up to expectations. The same can unfortunately said about Nyktalgia, where as their debut was agonized and depressing whilst also being beautiful in its own right, Peisithanatos
feels much tamer and more watered down, like the whole album was wrapped in cotton wool.

Peisithanatos is still very much guitar based, but unlike the first where the riffs were edgy and harsh, this album changes gears completely and strives to make beauty the focus of the guitars. This becomes clear in the first track which is surprisingly melodic making the album relatively accessible. Where as Nyktlagia was a melodic album it still had the harshness about it, Peisithanatos lacks that harshness that made Nyktalgia such an endearing piece of work. It doesn't help that the production quality has been increased because it mitigates the aggressiveness almost entirely making the album feel somewhat diluted to its predecessor. This doesn't mean the album is bad, it is a good album but compared to Nyktalgia it just lacks something.

Due to the poorer production of the first album it allowed the album to focus much more on the harshness of the music. The vocals were much rawer and tortured, the guitars still melodic but also edgy and aggressive. This album seems to focus all of its energy on the beauty of it. The first track is the best example of this where loads of the aggression has been depleted from the music. Whilst I do like this album a lot it is hampered by its lack of aggression when compared to the first. Non aggressive music works well for bands like Trist but Nyktalgia aren't Trist, for me the music needed the aggression like a new born baby needs its mother. Without the aggression it just doesn't hold up to the predecessor, which is unfortunate because I liked Nyktalgia a lot.

Nekrolog tries to remedy this by bringing more aggression to the table than the first track but it feels a little forced, the aggression still comes through but not as much as the debut. You can tell they tried really hard to convey the feelings of anguish and desperation so wonderfully emulated by the debut but the production just makes their efforts futile. Everything sounds too clean for any sense of aggression to actually come through.

Even the vocals aren't as harsh as the debut, whilst Nyktalgia had some of the most anguished screams I've ever heard, these vocals whilst still carrying the passion aren't as powerful as those of the first. They've also been pushed further back into the mix so they're not as noticeable. The drums and bass remain unchanged from the first album though which to me is a very good thing. I loved the bass presence on Nyktalgia and the drums were some of the best in the field.

The only track that actually conveys the feelings that were present on the previous album is the title track. The vocals in this track are more powerful than the rest of the album and the riffs feel harsher whilst still keeping the beauty. For me this is the best track on the album because the production doesn't detract too much from the atmosphere like the other tracks.

It's clear that the main focus of Peisithanatos was the melody. Pretty much all sense of aggression has been mitigated from the sound which hampers the overall quality a little. The melody of the first album was a defining factor, it wasn't as important as the vocals and harshness but the focus on the melody was still there, now that the vocals and aggression have been diluted melody has become the bands primary concern. The first track is probably the most melodic thing I've heard a Depressive Black Metal band do. Lots of melody has never been an issue for me, in fact I welcome it a lot but when a band releases a brilliant album that perfectly combined both melody and aggression, removing one aspect of that sound feels like a bad decision. If the production wasn't altered then this album might have stood on equal grounds as the first album, there's clearly the potential for a phenomenal album here but the cleanliness of everything ruins that chance. It's just too clear for it to reach the same heights as Nyktalgia. This is by no means a bad album, in fact it's very good especially compared to the large amount of low standard music that has been churning out of the scene at a rapid rate recently. But there are flaws that keep this album from reaching the same height as the predecessor. It's clear that they want to move away from the sound of their debut and honestly I wouldn't be surprised if the next album sounded like Alcest.
Overall rating- 16/20
Best track- Peisithanatos