Band Names Not Brand Names

Ah, my first USBM review. In the last 8 years or so, the US black metal scene has utterly exploded with mostly quality artists. Maybe it’s an American proliferation of technology but the recordings are much better than with their European or Asian counterparts; I know quality recording gear is much cheaper these days than it was 20 years ago but still some groups persist in recording albums that sound like they were done in a tin can. Just like their European counterparts of the kvlt/true scene, the USBMers shroud themselves in secrecy and mystery, and Nightbringer and Temple of Not are no exception to this tenant of true black metal. Both bands hail from Colorado to bring us extreme occult and ambient black metal, with Temple of Not featuring members of Nightbringer. This EP is a label debut for both bands on one of my favorite labels: Full Moon Productions. A very interesting interview about both bands can be found here.

Nightbringer is up first on the disc with four tracks. These four tracks are extremely well put together for a band that is only seven years old. Once you listen to the tracks though, you will notice a difference in production quality on the first two tracks and the remaining two. This is not an issue with your CD or your player, this is due to the fact that each track was recorded over a two year session and obviously, recording technology and habits change in that time but this in no way puts a damper on the music. Each track is has very strong production and composition which is something almost unheard of these days in black metal. These are not your typical blastbeat, three cord, and distressed vocal tracks, each element of the music is atypical. The drum work is blazingly fast and the production highlights it well. The drum tracks are not a consistent machine gun blast as is expected but they crescendo and diminuendo with great pitch and time changes. Given this is occult black metal and not power metal, drumming like this is almost non-existant but is so harmonious and it’s obvious a lot of work was given to writing the drum tracks. Next up, the fretwork. It’s amazing that all three members of Nightbringer compose the guitar tracks, this harkens back to the early days of metal where a bunch of guys would get together and write what they wanted to and where each person had their say in how something would sound. Since one member of the group is a trained pianist and composes some of the harmonies on a piano before translating them to the guitar, this lends a heightened level of detail that is abysmally missing from music today.

The vocals are all that’s left to be discussed. Nightbringer attribute themselves to Luciferianism than Satanism and thusly portray this in their lyrics. Being studied and versed in occult matters is really nothing new for black metal but most people align themselves with typical, mainstream Satanism for imagery and intimidation instead of it depicting who they actually are. Nightbringer say they are more of the “practice what you preach” type guys, I’ve not met them so I can’t comment on that but it’s good to know that people are transgressing imagery and words and are attempting to follow their faith adherently. With this, Nightbringer’s lyrics deal heavily with occultism, symbology, death, and darkness. The vocal style does not stray from the distressed/painfully screamed vocals of black metal which left a little to be desired. However, the lyrical content of songs like The Void and Vir Sapiens Dominabitur lend themselves to portray the utter dark core of Nightbringer: ultimate death and realization. The liner notes containing the lyrics show that Alcameth puts forth a huge effort in writing each and every song. The band’s next album Death and the Black Work is nearing completion and is due for a release this summer on Full Moon Productions with another split with Serpentinam available on Forever Plagued Records.

Temple of Not contributed two (long) tracks to this EP. Consisting of Alcameth of Nightbringer, this is the ambient arm of the group. Both tracks are over thirteen minutes long and are very ethereal in composition. Each track in its length goes from what sounds like sweeping winds through a forest to blistering samples of white noise. The self-titled track includes some vocals (doesn’t this detract from the whole ambient aspect??) which I’m guessing could be ritual rites but I’m not sure. I’ve been a fan of ambient music and ambient metal for a while so it was easy for me to sink into this stuff and like it. Alcameth says he’s got more Temple of Not material ready but does not have a label for it yet. Can someone sign them please?! I thoroughly enjoyed this split EP and I’m mustering up enough funds to buy the rest of Nightbringer’s offerings as they appear. Highly recommended.