Nachtfalke
Doomed To Die
[Christhunt]
Wow. This album is fucking amazing.
OK, I'll elaborate. Nachtfalke is the new project of former Moonblood instrumentalist Occulta Mors. He now does vocals as well as all music, but this sounds almost nothing like Moonblood as you'd expect. Rather, it's the perfect 'Viking Metal' album, that manages to incorporate those elements people typically associate with Viking Metal into a truly BLACK Metal framework - the result being nothing less than a jaw-dropping masterpiece. EPIC is the order of the day, with five songs totalling a 35 minute running time. The riffs are mournful and triumphant at the same time, perfectly 'viking' in that regard, but also perfectly hypnotic in that classic black metal way as well. A very organic sound gives things a militant feel as well - the drums sound like they're right there in the room with you, a good balance of roominess and clatter with a hi-hat that sounds like swords on steel. A robust bass sound fills the bulk of the picture, with the guitars quite fuzzy but somehow still easy to pick out. And the vocals are nothing short of magnificent - a very roomy, reverbed clean chant is used sparsely for effect, with the 'black metal' vocals being harsh and raspy. Every song on here is great (even the cover of Bathory's "One Home of Once Brave"), but the absolute highlight is the closing track, "Einherjer (Doomed to Die)" - if any track can capture that beautiful simplicity that contains all the secrets of the universe like the "Holy Grail" of black metal, Burzum's song "Det Som En Gang Var", it is this song. The opening chord arpeggio is sheer spinechilling brilliance, and it returns as a motif throughout the song at various points, and builds from there to a slow death march of a song that is undoubtedly the best black metal song of the past seven years. Yes, it's that good.
© 2003 lord vic
OK, I'll elaborate. Nachtfalke is the new project of former Moonblood instrumentalist Occulta Mors. He now does vocals as well as all music, but this sounds almost nothing like Moonblood as you'd expect. Rather, it's the perfect 'Viking Metal' album, that manages to incorporate those elements people typically associate with Viking Metal into a truly BLACK Metal framework - the result being nothing less than a jaw-dropping masterpiece. EPIC is the order of the day, with five songs totalling a 35 minute running time. The riffs are mournful and triumphant at the same time, perfectly 'viking' in that regard, but also perfectly hypnotic in that classic black metal way as well. A very organic sound gives things a militant feel as well - the drums sound like they're right there in the room with you, a good balance of roominess and clatter with a hi-hat that sounds like swords on steel. A robust bass sound fills the bulk of the picture, with the guitars quite fuzzy but somehow still easy to pick out. And the vocals are nothing short of magnificent - a very roomy, reverbed clean chant is used sparsely for effect, with the 'black metal' vocals being harsh and raspy. Every song on here is great (even the cover of Bathory's "One Home of Once Brave"), but the absolute highlight is the closing track, "Einherjer (Doomed to Die)" - if any track can capture that beautiful simplicity that contains all the secrets of the universe like the "Holy Grail" of black metal, Burzum's song "Det Som En Gang Var", it is this song. The opening chord arpeggio is sheer spinechilling brilliance, and it returns as a motif throughout the song at various points, and builds from there to a slow death march of a song that is undoubtedly the best black metal song of the past seven years. Yes, it's that good.
© 2003 lord vic