First, there was chaos. Then, from that primeval chaos came forth Nightbringer. And they sounded like their origin: Chaotic. In real world, this band hailing from Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, was formed in 1999, and this, their debut album, was originally released in 2008. There is no smell of pine trees or deer shit on this album, but it conjures both occult and spacey ambiance.

This complete version of the album consists of over 80 minutes of music. Shorter songs last for over 7 minutes, and the longest run takes almost 14 minutes! The band's love for tremolo riffing is more than clear. A big part of guitar playing is exactly about that, but there's also extensive amount of strumming to be heard. This also contains a lot of blast beats, but there's also mid-paced rhythms, as well as some bits of slower doomy pace. The first half has some quite lengthy intros that bring in very, very much needed variety. 'Beneath the Sands of Dudael' offers oldish melodiusness, but it's repeated over and over until rendered totally ineffective. Otherwise the band's choir structures and few melodic movements are rather odd and deranged. Vocals performance includes throaty output, as well as croaking style stuff.

It feels like the band went for the flow on their songs, because as compositions, they aren't coherent. Plus the music misses, for a big part, any kind of catchiness. I tried both, grabbing the music and going with its flow, but no, it does not have much effect on me. There is some transition between tempos and riffing patterns, of course, but nothing too intriguing. It's more like chaotic, unclear and boring. Okay, some of the songs have its own kind of feeling, but even that doesn't much help here.

The soundscape is atmospheric. Reverbing and booming effects give this fitting sphaerical feel. This doesn't go as far into space as e.g. Darkspace do, though. This is rather fleshy, thank to those bass frequencies it boasts. I'm not commenting on package (12" vinyl box set or digipak CD), as this was a promo.

I simply cannot get into this album. I lose my interest during a song, not just somewhere during these 80 minutes. However, if you are looking for spatial-sounding black metal and do not care whether it is structureless, this might be right up your alley.

Rating: 3½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
10/20/2014 21:26