Nazxul is probably one of Australia’s most well known black metal bands. Having been around for 13 years, I’m surprised they’ve only released a handful of albums (3 full lengths, a single EP, two splits and their groundbreaking demo). This Black Seed re-issue is a combination of the original EP, two live tracks, and the entire demo. It’s also got some of the most vibrant artwork I’ve seen on a BM release ever. Kudos to Asphyxiate Recordings for releasing such a monumental underground album.
Formed during a time of “true” black metal, how did the cold grim of Scandinavia reach all the way to Australia? I don’t really know and I don’t really care because it’s atypical of the black metal at the time. It’s rare that I can put in a black metal CD of someone I have no previous knowledge of and get floored by it. Nazxul have done just that with strong melodies, great production, vocals that aren’t overpowered by out-of-tune guitars, and great musicianship. The lyrical content of the album is very occult in nature which is of no surprise but what I am surprised about is the clarity of them. With releases of the time (and even now), vocal tracks were downplayed and almost always being overpowered by other parts of the track such as the guitars or just sounded like trash. This is very much not the issue with this release as each vocal track is easily heard in the music, even in the demo tracks and two live tracks.
So what’s the album actually like now that I’ve only droned on about the great production? Honestly, after the first listen, it floored me which is something most BM fails horribly at. Released originally in 1995 when black metal was more about burning churches than being progressive and forward-thinking, if Nazxul had been in Norway or Sweden they would have set precedents with their music. Each track is very strong on its own but I feel that the opener Vow in Vengeance, Apostasis Legions Arise, XUL!, and the live version of Totem are the stand-outs. The first four tracks are from the original Black Seed EP and are outstanding, with an average length of over six minutes.
I really hope Nazxul put together another solo effort soon as I really liked this re-relase of Black Seed. In a time where most black metal artists claiming “true” or “kvlt” status and end up sounding all the same, Nazxul are one of the few true progressive black metal bands that can take the genre into another golden age.
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