Phew, this edition could already feature six new tapes from my collection. But since I've already shot the pictures for these three, the rest will have to wait until part XXII. This triumvirate here is already pretty damn strong on its own anyway.
NITELIGHT - Nitelite plays: Death's Symbolic (Remastered) (2022)
I've already reviewed the original digital version of this album two years ago, so let me just quickly translate my old text:
It could be a bad joke, and sure there are fans who basically pull out pitchforks and torches when they hear the premise, but Italian duo Nitelight actually go all in, interpreting the full-length Death album "Symbolic" (1995) new as an instrumental synthwave epic! And what can one say, other than that Chuck Schuldiner would have been overjoyed at this loving homage to his work. It's respectable alone that Nitelight recognized how well the many strong guitar melodies on this album lend themselves to being transferred into their electronic style. But to cobble together a complete nine-track album from this idea, which probably works without any prior knowledge of the progressive death metal classic, that's ingenious grunt work!
And now in its remastered form the album is even better! Plus it has a new cover artwork and it's on fucking cassette! So what's not to love?
Yeah, thought so.
It could be a bad joke, and sure there are fans who basically pull out pitchforks and torches when they hear the premise, but Italian duo Nitelight actually go all in, interpreting the full-length Death album "Symbolic" (1995) new as an instrumental synthwave epic! And what can one say, other than that Chuck Schuldiner would have been overjoyed at this loving homage to his work. It's respectable alone that Nitelight recognized how well the many strong guitar melodies on this album lend themselves to being transferred into their electronic style. But to cobble together a complete nine-track album from this idea, which probably works without any prior knowledge of the progressive death metal classic, that's ingenious grunt work!
And now in its remastered form the album is even better! Plus it has a new cover artwork and it's on fucking cassette! So what's not to love?
Yeah, thought so.
OPHIDIAN FOREST - Tales Of Doom And Ignorance (2022)
Drums recorded 2016. Keyboards recorded in 2018/2019. Guitars, bass and vocals recorded in 2020. And now finally released in 2022. Yes, one can say that Ophidian Forest took their sweet time with this album. But then this project featuring Botanist drummer Otrebor is a transatlantic American/Dutch operation, there has obviously been the plague - and the music of these five average ten minutes long songs isn't three-chord garage punk either, but a slightly more ambitious blend pf progressive and black metal.
As such it often risks seeking closeness to guitar and keys harmony kitsch, but luckily always either does it with cringe-less class or remembers the joys of dissonance right in time. "Tales Of Doom And Ignorance" is an album on which quite a load of great things are happening - and I must admit that I haven't spun this one often enough yet to process them all. On the other hand I've already familiarized myself enough with this epic creative endeavour to determine its overall greatness.
The performances and atmosphere on here are both worth digging into. It's an enthralling take on black metal you don't hear everyday.
The album is out on CD and a cassette edition of not 50, not 100, but only 10 copies. Most of those are still available though, so don't sleep on this one, taperians!
As such it often risks seeking closeness to guitar and keys harmony kitsch, but luckily always either does it with cringe-less class or remembers the joys of dissonance right in time. "Tales Of Doom And Ignorance" is an album on which quite a load of great things are happening - and I must admit that I haven't spun this one often enough yet to process them all. On the other hand I've already familiarized myself enough with this epic creative endeavour to determine its overall greatness.
The performances and atmosphere on here are both worth digging into. It's an enthralling take on black metal you don't hear everyday.
The album is out on CD and a cassette edition of not 50, not 100, but only 10 copies. Most of those are still available though, so don't sleep on this one, taperians!
NADJA - Labyrinthine 如迷宮 (WV Sorcerer Edition) (2022)
Yes, the prolific duo Nadja has already released another new album! There are different versions of "Labyrinthine" from various worldwide labels out there, and it was a no-brainer for me to choose the WV Sorcerer Productions edition, not only because shipping from the US, Australia or Japan would have been more expensive, but simply because I trusted that this one would surely be beautiful.
The concept of the album is collaborative, with four long tracks, each featuring another guest on lead vocals. Maybe the idea was a more yin yang type of presentation, but WV Sorcerer, also typically adding Chinese ideographs to the titles, changed the sequence of songs compared to the digital copy on Bandcamp, so that both tracks with male vocalists are on A and the female leads are on B. That's also the order in which I'm writing about them - even though the whole works in any shuffle play chronology.
Both versions however start with the incredibly bleak title track. This slow industrial drone metal with vocals as tortured as relentless, contributed by Alan Dubin (Khanate, Gnaw), is the most brutally hopeless Nadja can sound.
"Necroausterity 即身成佛" with Full Of Hell's Dylan Walker isn't a sunny walk in the park either. The monotonous slow boom of Leah Buckareff's bass matches the now much more in-the-face misanthropy of the ferocious vocal performance perfectly. This nineteen minutes long has a couple of moments and even a long run where it's interwoven with subtle ambient sounds, but that doesn't make enduring it any less of an ordeal. And don't get me wrong: This is brilliant!
The B side then brings some much needed release with two songs much easier to listen to, featuring two vocalist who I admire a lot, the first being Esben And The Witch's Rachel Davies on "Rue 悔恨".
Not that Aidan Baker's guitar is eschewing some incredibly depressing Jesu chords on this track too, but the emotional purity and clarity of Davies' voice make this a much warmer, more intimate experience than the alienating harshness of the previous half of the album. And the climax of the track is just gold.
And as you think that the lead vocals couldn't possibly get more expressive on this album, there comes the final piece "Blurred 迷離" featuring an absolutely amazing Lane Shi Otayonii (Elizabeth Colour Wheel, two fantastic solo albums as Otay:onii on WV Sorcerer), who elevates "Labyrinthine 如迷宮" to new epic, sometimes almost mystical heights.
If you only allow yourself one Nadja release a year - this has to be the one!
The concept of the album is collaborative, with four long tracks, each featuring another guest on lead vocals. Maybe the idea was a more yin yang type of presentation, but WV Sorcerer, also typically adding Chinese ideographs to the titles, changed the sequence of songs compared to the digital copy on Bandcamp, so that both tracks with male vocalists are on A and the female leads are on B. That's also the order in which I'm writing about them - even though the whole works in any shuffle play chronology.
Both versions however start with the incredibly bleak title track. This slow industrial drone metal with vocals as tortured as relentless, contributed by Alan Dubin (Khanate, Gnaw), is the most brutally hopeless Nadja can sound.
"Necroausterity 即身成佛" with Full Of Hell's Dylan Walker isn't a sunny walk in the park either. The monotonous slow boom of Leah Buckareff's bass matches the now much more in-the-face misanthropy of the ferocious vocal performance perfectly. This nineteen minutes long has a couple of moments and even a long run where it's interwoven with subtle ambient sounds, but that doesn't make enduring it any less of an ordeal. And don't get me wrong: This is brilliant!
The B side then brings some much needed release with two songs much easier to listen to, featuring two vocalist who I admire a lot, the first being Esben And The Witch's Rachel Davies on "Rue 悔恨".
Not that Aidan Baker's guitar is eschewing some incredibly depressing Jesu chords on this track too, but the emotional purity and clarity of Davies' voice make this a much warmer, more intimate experience than the alienating harshness of the previous half of the album. And the climax of the track is just gold.
And as you think that the lead vocals couldn't possibly get more expressive on this album, there comes the final piece "Blurred 迷離" featuring an absolutely amazing Lane Shi Otayonii (Elizabeth Colour Wheel, two fantastic solo albums as Otay:onii on WV Sorcerer), who elevates "Labyrinthine 如迷宮" to new epic, sometimes almost mystical heights.
If you only allow yourself one Nadja release a year - this has to be the one!
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