AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: NACHTLIEDER — “AVGRUNDEN”

 

We have been following the activities of the talented one-woman Swedish black metal band Nachtlieder since 2014, commenting on the 2013 self-titled debut (here), 2015’s second album The Female of the Species (here), and the third album Lynx in 2018 (here). Nachtlieder is a prime example of a band that began strong and grew stronger with each successive release.

Now, Nachtlieder has recorded a new EP named Views From the North Vol. I. As its title suggests, the EP is the first in a planned series of EPs with material that Nachtlieder’s Dagny Susanne did not feel was a good fit for the albums. This first volume is a collection of demos from 2009-2016 that were re-recorded and properly produced in 2018.

In advance of the forthcoming EP (which will be released by Nigredo Records in late February and has now become available for pre-order), Nachtlieder has just released a digital single from the EP named Avgrunden, which is paired with a B-side consisting of an acoustic demo recoding of “Autumn Walk“, a song from the band’s second demo that won’t be included on the EP.

Today we present a video for “Avgrunden“, along with some insights about the song and video, and some thoughts about the music.

 

Photography by Johanna Herbst/Skvader Media

 

“Avgrunden” is so far the only Nachtlieder song with Swedish lyrics. In translation, the lyrics are these:

A tender gust of air becomes a storm
The wetness creeping closer through transparent countenance,
a face being whipped by icy drops
Hailstones against bare skin

The air is filled by thick grayness
I breathe the power of the wind
Power that suffocates and destroys
I’m absorbed by the weight of the clouds

The sound of rushing water
pushing me closer to the abyss
Trembling I cast up the untamed darkness
To earth I pray, devour me

The video, based on a concept by Nachtlieder, was produced by Rickard Olausson/Skvader Media. It features a dancer and a demon. The dancer (and choreographer) is Gothenburg-based Anette Pooja, who has studied classical Odissi (a performance art based on Hindu texts) for over two decades. Nachtlieder tells us:

“She is today a disciple of renowned indian Guru Sujata Mohapatra. Pooja’s own stage productions explore the role of indian dance in modern theatre. In “Avgrunden” she is using forms and gestures from classical Odissi to interpret the song’s lyrics. She has been my dance teacher for almost five years and I’ve been yearning to conjunct her powerful expression with Nachtlieder’s music!”

I did mention there is also a demon in the video — and the demon is portrayed by Dagny Susanne herself.

 

Photography by Johanna Herbst/Skvader Media

 

The video for “Avgrunden” progresses in unexpected directions, moving from exotic and seductive sinuousness to expressions of threat, torment, teeth-bared violence, and bloody, defiant triumph.

The imagery is emotionally powerful, and so is the music. Much as in the video, there is an exotic and perilous feeling to the riffing, and a scarring, tormented quality to the vocals. As the drums batter and race, the tension in the sound surges into a feverish frenzy, channeling sounds of madness. But as the torrent abates, the music also conveys a mood of bitter hopelessness, sinking into depths of despair, before igniting into an emotional conflagration whose frightening intensity sends shivers down the spine.

 

As mentioned at the outset, the two-track Avgrunden single is available now on Bandcamp, and we’ve included the stream of both songs after the video. We’ve also given you e-mail addresses that you can use in ordering the new EP, Views From the North Vol. 1 on CD:

AVGRUNDEN ON BANDCAMP:
https://nachtlieder.bandcamp.com/album/avgrunden

PRE-ORDER VIEWS FROM THE NORTH VOL. 1 (CD):
nachtlieder@gmail.com
nigredorecords@gmail.com.

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