Blackened Death Metal

Nihility, Beyond Human Concepts (Vicious Instinct Records 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , ,

Portugal’s Nihility bring forth their second self-defining work with Beyond Human Concepts.

From Porto, Nihility is a death/black metal band comprised of four musicians: Mário Ferreira (vocals), Renato Barbosa (guitar, vocals), Miguel Seewald (bass), and Luís Moreira (drums). Having released the impressive Thus Spoke The Antichrist in 2019, the follow-up Beyond Human Concepts walks us further down their path.

From the opening notes of the first song on the album, “Martyrdom For The Herd,” the dramatic and intensely compelling guitar riffs turn your head. It’s like riding in a hotrod on a winding road in the Carpathian Mountains. When the pace curls down for a moment, an insistent bass line won’t let you go, and the next breach is a shattering pace and a rallying lead break. It is worth buying this album on the strength of the opening song alone.

The style is a sort of blackened death metal. The vocalizations are often dualized with a death/black pairing. I am hearing that more and more these days, but rarely do I find it as effectively deployed is it is with Nihility – it is not overdone, and is instead used as a complement and for emphasis. When this approach is combined with the fascinating guitar choices and the driving rhythm the result is startling and memorable.

Along with the opening track, the other top plays for me are “Human Stupidity,” the charging “Conflicting Vanities,” and the astonishing title track. I have been listening to this album all day and I am not finished with it yet. The music just keeps getting better with every spin. Nihility has made my list of bands I must see live. Highly recommended.

Beyond Human Concepts is out on Friday, January 7th through Vicious Instinct Records. In the US, Bandcamp is the place to go.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://nihilityofficial.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-human-concepts

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/nihility.pt

Vicious Instinct Records, https://www.viciousinstinctrecords.com/

Nihility, Beyond Human Concepts (Vicious Instinct Records 2022)

Hate, Rugia (Metal Blade Records 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

Blackened death metal band Hate releases their twelfth full-length album, Rugia.

Since the mid-1990s, Polish band Hate has been has been issuing rock solid death metal. Their style has evolved somewhat over the years, moving from a strictly death metal approach toward an amalgam of black and death metal. Their lyrical themes have changed, too, concentrating in more recent years on mysticism and esoteric perambulations. Armed with a new drummer, the latest album is “a refreshing new chapter to our discography, composing nine truly sinister onslaughts of pure rage,” according to the band.

The set opens with the title track, offering an engaging percussion/riff combination before settling in with a thrumming death metal standard. The music is dramatic, even theatrical toward the end, dressing the stage for the deeper shades of dark to come. The question of where to place the title track (when there is one) has always fascinated me. It could be anywhere – the anchor position, sorted in the middle, or right up front. I think starting with “Rugia” is a blatant display of confidence, one that is well deserved.

Most tracks are relatively brief for this type of music, keeping the focus razor-sharp. Watch (listen) for “Exiles of Pantheon” especially, and “Resurgence,” for pummeling rhythm enhanced by unexpected turns in the harmony. “Sun Of Extinction” is a stand-out track for me because of its challenging, almost prog-ish, opening and determined follow-through. And “Awakening The Gods Within” has a cliff dropping shift from the doom laden opening to the savage assault that follows. These are all thrilling for their own reasons.

All the stops are pulled for the final track, “Sacred Dnieper.” It is a consolidated fury that sounds for all the world as if it spewed directly from the blackest void. This album is a roving, unrelenting menace that will dislodge your peace of mind. Recommended.

Rugia is available now through Metal Blade Records. Examine the varieties at the label link below.

Band photo by Daniel Rusilowicz.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://hate.bandcamp.com/album/rugia

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/HATEOFFICIAL

Metal Blade Records, https://www.metalblade.com/hate/

Hate, Rugia (Metal Blade Records 2021)

Wode, Burn In Many Mirrors (20 Buck Spin 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

The third album from England’s Wode is a sinister voyage through eldritch knowledge and understanding revived for the twenty-first century.

Wode has been around for a decade, releasing their first full-length album in 2016 and its well-received follow-up, Servants of the Countercosmos, the next year. The music is Black Metal thematically, with a significant nod toward paganism. The musical style has a lot in common with old school metal, with discernable harmonies and progressive riffs contained in a song structure that can support stadium performance.

The new album has six tracks, all of the them solidly plotted and expertly delivered. The vocals are realized largely in a clear, brusk tone, and the noticeable but sparing use of keys and synths complement the straight-forward musicality.

It all starts with “Lunar Madness,” which sounds like an army marching into battle at the beginning. Episodes of chaos punctuate the narrative and the rolling rhythm. “Fire In The Hills” is ominous and filled with dread while “Sulphuric Glow” is more straight-up sinister and pushes the Black Metal buttons hard. “Vanish Beneath” is the track I remember most for its insistent pace especially and for the recurring rambling motif.

The anchor to the album is the nine minute suite, “Streams of Rapture.” It plays like a dark and mysterious mini-musical with a dramatic theatrical lead-in that is broken completely apart by hammering, relentless metal less than two minutes in. The performers are given space to flex here and the result is the perfect finale to the set.

Burn In Many Mirrors is out now. Check out its many parallel instances of tape, download, vinyl, and CD, not to mention merch, at the 20 Buck Spin label link below. Recommended.

Band photo by Phillip James Torriero.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://wode.bandcamp.com/music

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Wodecult/

Label, https://www.20buckspin.com/

Wode, Burn In Many Mirrors (20 Buck Spin 2021)