AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SHORES OF NULL — “DARKNESS WON’T TAKE ME”

In March of this year, with the assistance of Spikerot Records, the Roman band Shores of Null released their newest album The Loss of Beauty, and it has quickly drawn widespread admiration (including at our site) for its compelling renderings of melancholy and tormented moods, and earned its recommendations for fans of Amorphis, Enslaved, and Paradise Lost.

We are fortunate, however, that Shores of Null seem just as devoted to the creation of captivating videos as they are captivating music, and they are fortunate to have done this through a very successful collaboration with director Martina L. McLean and the filmmakers at Sanda Movies.

Shores of Null have already released four accomplished videos for songs from The Loss of Beauty, and we’ve assembled all of them at the end of this article. But the principal focus today is a fifth video, this one for the song “Darkness Won’t Take Me“.

photo by Sabrina Caramanico

Lyrically, the song tells the narrator’s tale of a seemingly endless downward spiral, “the last one standing, adrift and alone”. The protagonist feels that he belongs with decay, but is also convinced that darkness won’t take him: “Loneliness will guide me / Clinging on to grace”.

In its music, “Darkness Won’t Take Me” is both unsettling and captivating in its deft blend of doom and black metal. Backed by stalking drums and heart-beat bass lines, it presents beleaguered and anguished chords in an unsettling minor key, as well as sizzling tremolo’d riffs that exacerbate the music’s haunted feeling of inner torment.

There’s torment and gloom in the singing too, but the vocals also extravagantly soar, as if refusing to surrender, and the music soars as well — though agony dwells in the piercing guitar harmony that carries the music to its abrupt conclusion.

In the video, a haggard and harrowed old man, his face lined with woe, drags a heavy cart across a barren landscape — a cart heavy with the presence of Death. It’s a compelling visual interpretation of the music.

As promised, below you’ll find videos for four other songs from The Loss of Beauty — “Nothing Left to Burn”, “The Last Flower”, “My Darkest Years”, and “Destination Woe”.

You’ll also find links you can use to acquire the album on LP, CD, and digital formats, with plentiful apparel options. And we’re also including the schedule of dates for Shores of Null‘s upcoming tour:

TOUR DATES:
09/09/2023 – Summer Metal Festival – Rieti (IT)
30/09/2023 – Metal Gates – Bucharest (RO)
04/11/2023 – Fall Fest – Helsinki (FI)
09/12/2023 – Scumm – Pescara (IT)
12/01/2024 – tba (IT)
13/01/2024 – Metal Symposium – Waves of Doom Fest II – Bari (IT)
01/03/2024 – Ziggy – Torino (IT)
02/03/2024 – The Academy – Mantova (IT)
15/03/2024 – Rework – Perugia (IT)
16/03/2024 – Slaugther – Milano (IT)

THE LOSS OF BEAUTY:
https://linktr.ee/thelossofbeauty

SHORES OF NULL:
https://shoresofnull.bandcamp.com/
https://www.shoresofnull.com/
http://www.facebook.com/shoresofnull