June 21, 2014 • self-released
Another day, another USBM band, right? Well, not all black metal is created equal, and once again it's time to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Nyarlathtotep has all the standard black metal aesthetics—classical-inspired intros, distorted and ugly vocals, guitar with more fuzz than a month-old piece of rotting fruit. But compared to the average, the music itself goes way beyond that. Often rhythms will have a slow marching industrial feel; guitar sometimes plods along in agonizing sludgy riffs. But when it does launch into full-on blasting force, it's pretty good stuff. Nothing totally amazing, but not bad by a long shot either. I particularly like how the riffs occasionally throw in a bit of melody and intricate chords, like in "The Gilman House"; it's well-hidden but when it crops up, it really adds well to the album's feel. There's also a bit of punk-ish stuff here and there (e.g. "Old Zadok Allen" and "The Gilman House"). I do enjoy how the album isn't just a straight-through stereotypical atmo-black; there's a surprising amount of diversity songwriting-wise. I love the noisy electronic interludes as well; they do a great job breaking up the long songs.
If I had any significant complaint, it's that the drums feel a bit tacky. I don't have any problem with synthetic/programmed drumming—I'd be a hypocrite to say otherwise—but there are plenty of ways to make programmed drums sound organic and human. Although I must say they are very well-programmed—I suppose they could have been played on an electronic kit, it's hard to say.
Anyway, this is a very worthy album. I'm excited to see where this band goes in the future. Worth checking out if you've got the patience, especially at that price.
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