Another release from Icelands rapidly growing Black Metal scene. The debut record from NYRST! Out now via Dark Essence Records. Hopefully this is yet another stellar masterpiece from an almost flawless scene.
Ambience begins our journey with a simple and effective sampling of winds and stunning clean guitars over cascading cymbals. Awash with a resplendent tranquility, this album will certainly have beauty and atmospheric prowess throughout. Hammering drums and dissonant chords build a malignantly energetic atmosphere, while still restraining something. This something is unchained and let loose in the form of ravenously grooving and aggressive Black Metal. With ferocious riffs and relentless drums convulsing to life, Nyrst have a formidable sound indeed.
Estranged progressions give a Voivodian touch to the discourse at hand with flourishing riffs and internally anguished vocals howling betwixt upheaving drums and dancing lead guitar oddness. Not only do the howling, disturbed vocals provide ambience and emotion, they fit the scolding scathe of abrasive instrumentals perfectly. Twisted and fierce yet gorgeously ambient and experimental, not a second on this record could be called predictable. A tribal, ritualistic feeling remains vibrant with chanting vocals truly adding an otherworldly touch atop the already unhinged Black Metal.
Void-summoning howls and tormenting instruments conjure a scathing, uncomfortably hypnotic dance of glisteningly glorious melodies, visceral dissonance and powerfully soaring atmospherics in wonderful harmony. Compared to their fellow Icelandic Black Metal bands, Nyrst have a slightly more accessible sound than the likes of Sinmara with their monolithic use of melody, more akin to Misthyrming for example. A trait that could certainly bring a wider fanbase to Iceland’s scene, while still deserving respect for originality and its uncompromising nature which will not alienate current fans of the scene.
This is an astonishing record, something Iceland has provided no shortage of recently. Nyrst have a memorable and intoxicating sound which sparkles with cold, eerie atmospherics while delivering a pungent, forceful conjuration of Black Metal that is ravenously extreme and intense. The melodics complement the dissonance in a fantastic contrast rather than feeling disjointed while the ambience and experimental nature of the music delivers wonderfully twisted, disconcerting Black Metal brilliance from start to end. Emboldened, hideous, beautiful and ravenous, this is one of those records that will leave an impact that is hard to shake. -8.5/10
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