Nux Vomica — Self Titled
There is a forlorn, symmetrical elegance and simplicity to the band's guitar melodies. The repetition of basic arpeggios and ostinatos allows the band to add and subtract to powerful effect, focusing completely on the ebb and flow. There's an almost folky quality to the consonance of many of the clean passages, and the reverberant, echoing tones create an ethereal, poetic mood amidst the predictions of desolation. It's not unlike some of the lighter sections of Between and the Buried and Me's older songs, but this band lacks the jumpy, contrasted quality of that band, and are much more patient overall.
Perhaps the greatest strength of the band is their ability to take the listener on seamless extended journeys in which momentum not only never sags, but continuously yet patiently builds. They do repeat riffs in a dramatic post metal fashion, but are certainly not a minimalist band, and each of the songs has countless sections that logically flow from one to the next, clearly written by someone with melodic visions, and a certain form of sad beauty as their goal. Listening to this album, I never find myself wondering when a song will be over, rather I end up listening to the whole album as an entirety before I've even consciously decided to do so.
"Reeling" begins with rainy, textured minor chords that wouldn't be out of place on a Katatonia record, and it turns out to match perfectly with the crushing pentatonic doomy power chords which follow. For all the styles combines on this album, it never feels at all unnatural. Being from the Pacific Northwest myself, I can see how it occured: black metal, stoner doom, and hardcore are equally a part of our lifeblood in this area, equally befitting to the forested dimness.
In the lyrics and in the desperate, climactic progressions, the emotional desperation of the band is clear. They paint a blasted out apocalyptic picture that recalls Godspeed You, Black Emperor or earlier Neurosis records. Repeated chants such as "Why do we participate so willingly?" are perhaps covered ground in this day and age, but are none-the-less direct and earnest statements. "We've stopped watching the news..." is despairingly howled in the first piece, titled "Sanity is for the Passive", a statement which perhaps best sums up the bitter, yet motivated discontent of these musicians. The sentiment seems to be that it is perhaps already too late for our world, but their intention is to go down fighting.
I haven't mentioned at all the 20 minute opus that is the final track "Choked at the Roots", but suffice to say it not only lives up to the other two pieces, it may actually be the best of them all.
In conclusion, this band is both successfully melodic and thunderously heavy, and this album is one of my favorites of recent years. If you enjoy the sound of massive guitar chords crashing down, or at all partial to atmospheric 'post hardcore', by all means investigate this album. It is dark, yet incredibly listenable, and I've heard it countless times in the last week. With a sound so earnest and such powerful emotion clearly present, it's hard not to side with this band.