AN NCS PREMIERE: NACHTLIEDER — “SONG OF NOVA”

 

Metal songs that prove to be absorbing and addictive at the same time are those which pull off the trick of creating a strong sense of atmosphere and mood while also triggering a physical response and implanting seeds of melody that flower quickly and sink their roots into the listener’s memory. But of course, it’s not really a “trick”, which seems like a superficial word to use for the substantive value of good song-writing and powerful performance, a suggestion of artifice rather than true magic. And there is indeed true dark magic in the song we’re about to present.

“Song of Nova” is the name of this track, and it’s the first glimpse of what Dagny Susanne has achieved in her guise as Nachtlieder on this project’s new album, Lynx, which will be released through Nigredo Records near the end of August.

 

photo by I Breathe Needles

 

Those of you who have already discovered Nachtlieder’s first two albums — the self-titled debut in 2013 and 2015’s The Female of the Species — will already be aware of both the song-writing and performance talents of Dagny Susanne (and her formidable drummer accompaniest Martrum, who returns again on Lynx). Lynx is a fresh display of those talents, but also represents a heavier and darker turn as compared to the previous releases. As Nachtlieder explains:

“The lyrics deal mostly with death, or rather endings, in different forms. ‘Song of Nova‘ is about the inescapability of death and loss. The title refers to the concept of the Music of the Spheres, but in this case the vibrations in the universe as it is destroyed by a dying star.”

The idea of inescapable death on a universal scale demands dark frequencies (to borrow words from the initial lyrics — which we’ve included in their entirety after the song stream), and “Song of Nova” delivers them. The song is home to a variety of riffs, but its central melody, introduced early on and reappearing later, resonates with a mixture of malice and grief, as if manifesting both the implacable hostility of a world-ending nova and the sense of vast loss that it would bring.

A hammering drumbeat and waves of roiling guitar abrasion open the song before that melody makes its first appearance, and then the drums begin to blast and the tone of the riffs becomes deeper, and more vicious and bleak, as the vocals enter the frame, howling in a caustic fury. That rising and falling melody returns, along with a poisonous, reptilian lead. The darkness of the music’s atmosphere deepens… but the song (as alluded to earlier) also provokes a physical response as it segues into a segment of jabbing, head-moving chords and pounding percussion.

But the mood turns very dark and ominous again as Nachtlieder introduces a deep, slithering, groaning, python-thick riff over the contrast of blasting drums. And to sink the song’s seeds further into your head, the central melody makes its final appearance, further elaborated with a vibrant, trilling lead.

 

A few more details about Lynx (an album we’ll have more to say about as its release date draws closer): The cover art is “Lena Liten och Guldnyckeln” by John Bauer. The album was produced at Opus Magnum Studio by producer and musician Déhà (from Yhdarl, Slow, etc), who also contributed male vocals for “Song of Nova”. The lineup for the album is Dagny Susanne (guitars, bass, and voice) and Martrum (drums).

The album will be released on digipack CD on August 27 by the Swedish label Nigredo Records. For pre-orders, contact:

nigredorecords@gmail.com

NACHTLIEDER:
https://www.facebook.com/nachtlieder
https://nachtlieder.bandcamp.com/

NIGREDO RECORDS:
http://www.nigredorecords.org/

 

 

LYRICS:

Dark frequencies, succumb to by every beast
As nova has swallowed the last light
And resigns

Their limbs tremble as the chords are strung
Fragile glass that shatter
Shards that dissolve into dust

Flesh that implode
Into the void
Cold is the sky
Colorless world
Faces go mute
Paralyzed fall
Gravity draws me toward nothingness and all is done

Run
Stumble over broken bodies
Lean
When it pulls you to its heart
Sway
There is no escape

Run
Lean
Sway

Candescent black deep
Silent mass of the night
Eager to consume what’s in its sight