Thursday 28th March 2024,
The Black Planet

VOZ DE NENHUM – Sublimation

Michael Parent 15/04/2019 Comments Off on VOZ DE NENHUM – Sublimation

[bandcamp width=310 height=510 album=2716971502 size=large bgcol=333333 linkcol=ffffff]

In Metal circles, one can meet all kinds of opinions on a plethora of topics. Take for instance one genre: Black Metal. Some purists will say that the genre started and died with Venom, Bathory, and Celtic Frost aka the First Wave of Black Metal. While, cultists,I mean kvltists, will celebrate Darkthrone, Mayhem and Emperor or what I like to call the Second Wave of Black Metal. In fact, for most, the second wave defines what Black Metal is and what it should be as if it were to be frozen in time. Well, with time and the diluvial amount of promos received in the recent years I can honestly say that too much of a thing can tire you from it.

Comes Voz De Nenhum’s “Sublimation” debut record, mixing Grand Declaration of War-like Black Metal (in other words Mayhem since its reformation) and the Attila Csihar operatic vocals. Combined with a post-Rock flair and a muffled production you have a modern day offering that gives a regard towards the progression brought by Mayhem but seems to be heading in its own direction since its inception.

Voz De Nenhum isn’t going full Mayhem emulation either, with song “Nails” there’s a definitive Neurosis vibe going on that feels so right because it should be wrong to mix both approaches. This Noise song with clean vocals and acoustic guitars captures the dry and arid essence of the band.

In fact, it’s always more interesting when a band in a constrained genre gets to challenge its listener by introducing surprising genres or takes a unexpected turn after a couple of songs into the album.

For the whole experience, I am convinced by the record. But the production is compressed and the lack of dynamic range is annoying at worst. A better mixing job would have given justice to the quality of the songs and the different guitar tones, the vocals, and especially the bass.

On a positive note, this gives me hope for the evolution of the genre as a constant.

8/10

About Voz De Nenhum

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