Description
VÖ & VERSAND ab / release date & delivery = 02. March 2012 !!!!
www.avenoctum.com =
Described as "freezing Cosmic Black Metal", this work from Hungary's Nefarious marches on relentlessly from beginning to end. There's a grim war going on out there. Hungary does not have a border with Poland and has no obvious cultural links but the uncompromising brutality which runs through this work suggests otherwise. Nefarious take no prisoners, but "The Universal Wrath", the band's first full album after one demo and a split with the mighty Horna over 12 years of existence, is no monolithic slab. Keyboards ring through the constantly battering whirlpool of "The Chosen Ones" for added tension. Although it's as if the tanks are rumbling on through the wastelands, there's an eerie sound overhead. The basic riff of "False Worlds of Prophets" is magnetic and strangely reminiscent of the theme to Batman. It's all dark and atmospheric of course, yet it's melodic.
One time I listened to this album as I was waiting for a train at Stevenage. At6 o'clockin the morning it was cold, icy and soulless there. "In the Hell of Eternal Depths" managed to transcend this grim experience. Its riff pumped through my head, adding dark clouds to the inexorable oblivion around me. Paradoxically, my day was improving. "Become Nothing" brings more of that deceptive subtlety. The momentary sound of squeaking doors give way to an avalanche of smoke, fire and darkness. The riff is creepy. The vocalist roars with great authority and presence. The horrible experience is taken further on "The King of Slaves" but it's the drum blasts and keyboard enhancements which ensure that musical quality outweighs any possibility of artificiality. This track is divided into four segments. For the second, it steps down into a world of deliberate creepiness and venom, then filthy Black Metal penetrates the listener's bones. The atmosphere is now murderous. The track ends in deathly fashion, ringing ominously and taking us a steady drum beat, signalling the start of the threatening and scary final track "A Mountain of Crosses". Eerie whistling accompanies the deep, dark and symphonic sound. There's a quick break but that drum beat continues. It's so steady that it's unsettling. The intensity heightens and then it stops. The album has ended.
Dark clouds continue to prevail overStevenageand anywhere else this album is played, I'm sure. Where have Nefarious been? The atmospheric Black Metal style they deliver is not unknown but plenty of thought has gone into "The Universal Wrath". The result is an album which will get into your head.
(7.5/10 POINIS / Andrew Doherty)