ALBUM REVIEW: Núll – Entity

NÚLL are back with their 2nd album of Blackened Doom Metal. Set for release via Van Records on August 28th.

Bleak guitars draw in with cymbal chimes, emanating with a spectral and melancholic eeriness. The drums build with the melodic and forlorn guitars to create a haunting atmosphere, accentuated by haunting clean vocals, truly a stunning beginning to the record. This is very different to typical Icelandic Black Metal yet in a very nuanced manner has the similarly dissonant sense of melody behind walls of overwhelming anguish. The harsher vocals used convey a passionate and crushing darkness borne of introspection, perfectly suited to the raw emotive instrumentals. Blastbeats eventually come in with more ferocity to the riffs, turning melancholy to self-loathing, punishing assaults gorgeously with nothing jarring in the transition.

Driving forth will full force, the blend of depression and aggression is handled so much more superbly than most depressive bands, choosing a far more fierce and scathing attack that uses sombreness to full effect rather than simply relying on it to set the mood. Núll have a lot of subtleties to their sound which will warrant revisiting this album that has so much to offer. Brooding with despair yet not feeling soft or too self-pitying, this is exactly where more emotional Black / Doom Metal should sit, with a venomous and tight performance packed with variety. Ambience shrouds this release with some droning monotony coming through to hypnotise us before we lurch through cold passages of visceral, psychotic Black Metal depravity.

Waltzing through a psychoactive blend of Black Metal, Doom Metal and ambience, the expansive and otherworldly nature of the music may fit the Icelandic scene while totalling standing out with its dancing, twinkling melodies of self-destruction. Hideously intoxicating, this album will quickly get under your skin and leave you questioning many things internally. It is addictive in its mesmerising anguish, similarly to the likes of Andavald with their haunting creations of melancholia and psychosis. Do not be fooled by the mention of mesmerisation that this is an easy listen by any stretch. It is a torturous and deeply unpleasant feeling of anxiety that is provoked by this music, however in a very cathartic and unforgettable manner.

The second album of Núll is resplendent, chilling and utterly beautiful in all of its warped, disfigured loathing that is conjured from each listen. Like a bad trip, you will not easily shake the experience of this record, nor will you want to once you open your eyes to what lies in wait. Pure sonic ecstasy and horror entangled with perfect equilibrium. -9/10