Videoclip of the Month!!!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Nigromantia - Blind Faith (EP 2011)

Nigromantia - Blind Faith (EP 2011)

Blind Faith is Nigromantia’s debut release. These guys are an unsigned melodic death metal band from Hungary and are here to try and reshape some people’s thoughts on modern day melodic death metal.  These guys are not your ordinary melodic death metal band, they produce what some might call “pure” melodic death metal.

These guys are a melodic death metal band, now aside from all the “other” modern day melodic death metal bands who always try to be as brutal or fast as they possibly can. These guys take it nice and slow. Trying to concentrate on what real melodic death metal is all about. The simple way of describing what these guys actually sound like is to say that they just sound like a really melodic old school death metal band. Not too fast and not too complex, there is this certain vibe there that says “I’m old” but in fact these guys are the new kids on the block. Also, they don’t seem to be mixing their styles with anything else. It’s just death metal, no breakdowns, no pig squeals and not even screams. Yes that’s right, only growls are present here.

Although these guys are practically straight up death metal, they do have quite a lot of feeling in their music and its more of an upbeat feeling, which I think is rare to find in many old school death metal bands but extremely common in melodic death metal. Also, at times, it feels more like an atmosphere than just feeling. Now this is common in old school death metal. After examining these characteristics, the true nature of their music starts to reveal itself. It’s obviously a cross between old school death metal and modern day melodic death metal and it’s obvious that they have tried to include atmosphere into their music. The first dead giveaway is how calm the vocals are, they aren’t too abrasive and they are not spoken really quickly. Also, some of the vocals are whispered, which implies that they want to make the music soft. Another piece of evidence of the atmospheric side to these guys is the guitar work as well. They are relatively soft and there is no shredding at all. They aren’t as powerful as what you would find in a melodic death metal band, but they are of the same pitch.

There aren’t any really clear influences to this band since there aren’t that many bands that really sound like these guys. In some way or another, these guys sound a lot like if old cannibal corpse was a melodic death metal band. The vocals are the same and the styles are very similar. The style of drumming used in this album really does remind me of some of the older death metal bands out there. They have a really snappy sound to them, and are played relatively slowly. The atmosphere is a little harder to tell where exactly they came from but it sounds like something you would get from a suicidal black band because it does sound depressing. But there are more upbeat times than downbeat times in this album. When the emotional parts hit you, its easy to tell because you really do feel a complete change in atmosphere some times.

Musically these guys aren’t really anything out of the ordinary they have fairly generic riffs, vocals and drumming. Its either they can’t play anything complex or they want to keep the momentum of the atmosphere going, either way I think its not how complex the music is, but how its constructed. Now its this construction that these guys are successful at. They have kept the momentum of the atmosphere going really well throughout the whole album. The vocals for a start, they are nothing but growls. Yep, just your ordinary growls ladies and gentlemen, nothing to see here. If you enjoy listening to cannibal corpse growls then you would probably like this. Now the guitars, they are odd because they have a melodic death metal vibe to them but at the same time they contribute to the atmosphere in the album. They are played slowly and they aren’t overpowering like what you would expect from your ordinary melodic death metal band. Some might think that solos might sound awkward and bland when its like this, but it’s the opposite. It’s not exactly energetic but it sounds like something a 70’s band might play. They are quite fast but still have a smooth melodic feel to them. The drumming, like I mentioned before, they have a very old school feeling to them, its slow and snappy. Also, they use the top hats quite a lot when they play which is another good indication on what these guys are influenced by. There is not blasting here guys, it’s just slow classic drumming. The style of drumming really reminds me of the drumming that was in Cannibal Corpse’s debut Eaten Alive album, simple yet effective. I think they have slowed down the drumming to try and make it seem atmospheric, which it has successfully done.

There are a few good tracks on here, featuring some excellent old school melodic death metal. The opening track is Prayer to the Souls. Now in terms of quickness and energy, this is probably as fast as you would get out of the EP and as soon as you get past the intro, it’s immediately evident that they have put an emotional element to their music. This is basically the track that puts everything into perspective and sets the scene for the rest of the album, which has done. Now the next track Embrace of Sorrow is probably as old school as you will be getting in this five track EP. The guitars and drumming are slow and there are only growls. Also, they have included the style of atmosphere that you might expect from an old school death metal band. There is a real sense of age for that track. Fast forward to Darkest Journey and you hit the most melodic death metalish track, it is a little faster than all the other tracks and the feeling is more like a melodic death metal. But it is also the most atmospheric. The atmosphere within this track is almost beautiful, the emotion really sets the stage and the solo really fits in really well.

Overall this is a pretty good start to some not so ordinary death metal. On its skin, it might come off to sounding like your everyday death metal band. When it comes to musicianship, it is but the way they construct the music really makes up for this. The music itself have a strong sense of vintageness, which is very rare for a modern day band to have. Also, it contains some of the most emotional parts of death metal you might ever hear. There a few tracks worth listening to on this EP and I recommend this to anyone who likes old school death metal and open minded melodic death metal fans. I say open minded because these guys aren’t your ordinary melodic death metal band, be warned. I recommend the track Prayer to the Souls for people who are looking to get a good idea of what these guys are like because it basically summarises what this band is about and what it is trying to achieve. I recommend the track Embrace of Sorrow for any of the real hardcore old school death metal fans out there and the track Darkest Journey for melodic death metal fans. I also recommend the track Darkest Journey to anyone who likes atmosphere in their music because it does indeed have some of the most beautiful atmosphere out there. Overall, this is a decent release and is worth listening to, but for people who are looking for something totally original I wouldn’t recommend this because despite it being unlike other bands, it still feels generic. I give Nigromantia’s Blind Faith a 14/20.


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