The Polish death metal scene is, and has always been, a great breeding ground for creativity and free thinking. Bands such as behemoth are typified not so much by their unrelenting brutality (although one must admit that it is a trait) as their intelligence and ability to articulate deep philosophical and historical concepts clearly whilst attacking the listener with unrelenting brutality and that intelligence is nowhere more obvious than through the works of Nomad who plough a bloody furrow through the ground that exists between Behemoth’s all-out assault and Arcturus’ more progressive astral plain.
Utilising the unconventional technique of granting each song a separate introduction, this is a record upon which each of the seventeen tracks seep into one another with the lines between conventional rock album wisdom (each track must be identifiably separate) and the more progressive/classical music philosophy that a record can ebb and flow from start to finish with no discernible break necessary. Certainly this approach puts Nomad at odds with the Ipod shuffle generation, but then encouraging music fans to step away from that soulless white box can only be a massive mark in nomad’s favour.
Instantly impressing with their sleeve design, it must be noted that the artwork for ‘transmigration of consciousness’ is simply stunning (and would undoubtedly look even better on an LP sleeve) and further cements the Arcturus comparisons with a similar design and colour palette to ‘the sham mirror’. The content meanwhile is no less impressive. A brief introduction filled with tribal drums and sinister voices intones: “are you ready my child? So enter: Come in. Enter my silver circle. And move on the lines of my words.” It’s poetic and beautifully written and serves as the perfect introduction to the swirling maelstrom that is ‘The demon’s breath’ which is furiously heavy and played with a demonic self-possession that recalls vintage Dimmu Borgir as well as Behemoth’s furiously regimented stomp. It is a vital introduction to an album that has you hooked from this auspicious start and refuses to let go until the final dying moments blink out of existence like a dying star. The track ends with a slow dissolve into a hypnotic miasma that then takes shape in the mid-tempo ‘Dazzling black’ that impresses most with its brutal vocals and sudden tempo and riff changes which often appear out of nowhere but which are so skilfully done that you find yourself dragged along as if caught by some invisible undercurrent.
There have been, I have noticed, some questions raised about the wisdom of incorporating intro passages in between each track, the main complaint being that it breaks up the crushing flow. I may be wrong, but I believe such criticisms miss the point. Listening to the glorious, progressive solo in ‘the dazzling black’ you can only guess at the intentions of the band but it is highly probable that they created this record as a mood piece that needs to be listened to and absorbed all at once and while the heavy passages are undeniably thrilling this is not all about an unsubtle hammer-blow attack. If that’s what you’re looking for Deicide would be a fine, and more appealing option. Rather Nomad use death metal as a springboard from which to launch their unique approach to music and as ‘identity with personification’ kicks in you can see that an atmosphere is being woven with these immense songs which requires the gentle interludes to effectively ensnare the listener.
Moving into terrifying military mode, the rattling snare and tightly reigned in guitars of ‘Pearl evil’ are up next. Stunningly martial, when the track finally breaks free form its self-imposed strictures it is like a berserker attack unleashed upon the enemy with dust and blood choking the atmosphere and the screams of the dying slowly eclipsing the light of day. Blackened and with a vocal performance that barks orders above the din of the carnage, it forms a stunning centre to the album but not so much as the massive ‘Abyss of Meditation’ which moves through multiple moods and tempos over the course of its duration and leaves you gasping at the sheer technical proficiency of the band who created it. It’s a magnificent, grand, artistic statement of a band with vision and purpose and the breadth and depth of the band’s ambition is near overwhelming. Opening with tribal drums and a huge churning riff, the overall feel is as black as the darkest obsidian and as it batters slowly into submission you have no choice but to look up into eyes that are as jet black as the darkest pit and equally unforgiving. It is currently on its fifth play and I still haven’t gotten over quite how astonishing a piece of work this album, and this song in particular, is.
Following on from such a ground breaking track, ‘flames of tomorrow’ sees the band augment their assault with orchestral flourishes before heading into the atmospheric, soundtrack-esque ‘raised irony’ which then develops into the sort of technical death metal attack that Dimmu Borgir unleashed on ‘stormblast’. The final track proper comes in the form of ‘four per cent of hate’ which arrives out of the sound of someone coughing their lungs up at a dying fairground before the band unleash one final, brutal round of riffs and then disappear back off into the strange plains that they typically inhabit.
At SonicAbuse we receive a lot of releases. We do our best to review them all to the best of ability, but every once in a while you receive something that is unexpectedly amazing and it knocks you sideways. To give you an idea it took six spins to finally review this in what I felt to be a fitting manner. At the end of the third spin I had already ordered a vinyl copy on line to add to a small collection of releases that I value above all others. This is a scintillating, atmospheric gem of a record that takes substantial patience and work to give up all its secrets and I fear I haven’t discovered them all yet. Intelligent and played to perfection this is simply astounding.
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