Nachtvorst — Silence

Thousands of bands release music every day.  Out of those thousands maybe a hundred get a decent review.  Out of those hundred good reviews, maybe half that get to be heard (yes even in the days of the internet), and out of that half only a handful are remembered.  All that leads us directly to Nachtvorst latest release Silence.

Formed in 2007, the two man band from the Netherlands, consisting of Leopold and Erghal, have released a full length cd and various eps.  Silence is the second full length release after signing with Code666 Records. 

Nachtvorst have this wonderful ability to create extremely emotional and atmospheric music and then have the crafty ability to back it up with stellar compositions.  Six songs are presented to us, 2 are short instrumentals (clocking less than 3 minutes) and compared to the other four songs that is really short, “A Way Of Silence” by itself is over 14 minutes.  Yet time doesn’t hamper Nachtvorst, it only makes the listener yearn for more. 

To begin Nachtvorst build on a foundation of musical ability.  They add black metal, post-rock, doom and drone to give birth to something that is flawless.  You will find incredible guitar work, check, intricate rhythms, yes, affecting vocals, absolutely; a total package. “The Serpents Tongue” begins it all with a funeral doom-like dirge, and yet it has a groove to it.  The intricate rhythms are paced with quiet moments of just piano and clean guitars that are quite lovely.  “After…” and “…Before” are the short instrumentals which admittedly are there to whet our appetites for more.  “Nightwinds” continues with a dissonant, avant-garde Voivod-ish melody. 

Let’s take a moment to discuss vocals.  Yes it’s the black metal sound; a very deep rasp tempered with high pitch screams, we’ve heard it before but here it becomes a part of the music and thus another component to add the mix.  During “A Way Of Silence” a bit of clean vocals are added and this gives more of a shoe-gazer-ish bent to the proceedings.  An expected blast of speed to the gorgeous melodic sludge-like song is a shock but well played.  “Gentle Notice Of A Final Breath” expounds on the shoe-gazer influence.  Beautiful guitar playing clean and distorted are found here.  With every song there is strong emphasis on atmosphere (isn’t that what all black metal is striving for?).  Each note seems to drip with feelings of melancholy, despair, mystification and hope.

Nachtvorst possess talent, timing and atmosphere.  They seem to have an unfalteringly ability to expand our minds and our opinions of what metal is and what it should be. Fans of Secrets of The Moon, Agalloch, Esoteric, Alcest and early Forgotten Tomb will embrace this ardently.  Listen to it, enjoy it, and pass it on to others.  It would be a shame if music this well done is not heard.