Wednesday 27 July 2011

Necro Ritual - Nerthus' Demise

Kangling Records - 2011

1.Warpen Waelgifru 2.Warcry 3.Pagan Might
4. Severing The Throats of The Voiceless Christain Scum 5.The Passing of The September Moon
6.Call of The Nocturnal Army 7.Beyond The Sword
8.Nerthus' Demise (Lament For The Fallen Angland)

Opening up with an eerie windswept into, I was expecting first track ‘Warcry’ to open up in an inferno of unholy blast beats and scathing guitars – I couldn’t have been more wrong with my expectations. Instead, the track is introduced in a relatively gentle manner, melodic black metal riffs sweeping back and forth, creating a bleak and blackened atmosphere. The tempo to the opening track remains slow, venturing to mid-paced temporarily, then returning to the slow melodic and mournful tempo. Variety is added to the vocals, using the high pitched ‘black metal’ screams drenched in reverb as well as guttural death metal growling. There is a good mix between the two styles, each complementing the other well. There are also some ‘spoken’ passages which help add more variety to the song.
Second track ‘Pagan Might’ sees the band upping the tempo, moving into a more familiar brutal black metal style, blast beats used sparingly, but effectively (some of the faster sections reminiscent of Marduk). The riffing remains melodic and very memorable and as with the previous tracks creates a very bleak and haunting atmosphere. The melodic guitar solo near the end of the track works extremely well, never losing the black metal feel of the song, retaining a sense of despair’. ‘Severing The Throats Of The Voiceless Christian Scum’ and ‘The Passing Of The September Moon’ are very similar in their structures, based around harsh, yet melodic black metal riffing with the tempo dipping from slow tortured sections, to all out blasting, then returning to the slower tempo. The changes in tempo work well, never allowing the songs to become one dimensional as can be the case with a lot of black metal. The remaining tracks don’t offer us anything new from the formula already shown on the opening tracks, but they don’t need to as the formula NR are sticking to works well. The band is producing some quality melodic black metal with real passion and atmosphere.
This release should appeal to a lot of BM fans as the band mix differing styles of the genre; melody, harshness, depressive and brutal, there’s a lot on offer! This cd will also be a good introduction to BM for those that have never heard it but are considering treading the left hand path. ‘Beyond The Sword’ stands out against the other tracks. Some of the riffing is so catchy, instantly memorable, melodic yet harsh, definitely one to throw the horns to whilst denouncing everything pure \m/ Recommended.
7.5 / 10

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