TT - 2021-06-24

Posted by

.jh

on 2021-06-24T17:06:00Z

Totem

I’ve had this album for so long but I cannot remember how, why or exactly when I picked it up. I’m guessing I bought it back in the late 90s, perhaps I read about it on some message board or someone mentioned it on irc (ask your parents). What I do remember is the dense murky sound which aesthetically fit nicely with the shrouded figures in the band pictures. Now this sound can also be seen as perhaps the weakest piece as especially the guitars tend to get muddled in the mix, and at times it almost sounds like some songs where recorded at different times because the sound between the songs which at times is a bit distracting. With that caveat out of the way this is still an incredibly enjoyable album of mostly fast paced ferocious blackmetal. The multilayered vocals shifting from hissing to growls to barks is especially well done, the riffs are melodic but understated, and when there are leads they tend to be deeply buried so this never threatens to be a saccharine black metal by any stretch of the imagination. A highly recommended album if you’ve not heard it, while the original is not available anymore they did release a 15th anniversary re-issue back in 2011 and the only difference is that the 30 minute outro was cut (and you’re not missing anything as it’s 26 minutes of ambient noise followed by 3 minutes of actual music).

Nazxul

Permalink, Source, Tags: musicblogNazxulThrowbackThursday2021

.jh
A Darker Shade of Black

TT - 2021-06-24

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