On May 3rd much of the world will be deep into spring or entering summer, but it will still be a very dark day, cast into deep and sinister shadows by Pulverised Records‘ release of Nokturnal‘s debut album Shades of Night.
The album by these Indonesian necromancers is well-named, because the darkness of their music does have different shades, and reveals many shifting shapes within the gloom, as you shall witness through our premiere of an utterly diabolical and relentlessly dynamic album track named “Dagger of Will“.
On this new song, Nokturnal quickly spur themselves into a racing pace, with drums maniacally clattering and clobbering and the fretwork flying. But as fast and feral as the music is, Nokturnal create a devilishly elaborate whirl of riffs, rhythms, and solos, and pull from many wellsprings of heavy and extreme metal as they do.
With riffage that sizzles and whirs, writhes and jolts, fronted by raw and rabid howls and ghastly muttered words, they create sensations of demonic madness. Rapidly rippling leads, gruesomely bubbling bass tones, frantically hammering drums, and a deliriously screaming and convulsing solo add to the feeling of infernal derangement.
The riffing also shifts into a mad and mewling pulse backed by a rocking beat, infiltrated by a slowly slithering melody that oozes venom, and then shifts again into a grim yet ravenous feeding frenzy, followed by another eye-popping solo that sounds witchy and wailing over a hammering groove.
There do come a couple of points in the song when the band ease back on the electrifying acceleration. In the first such episode, announced by crazed howls, the rhythm stalks and the guitars seem to cry out in misery as the music lurches toward some terrible pit of desolation. In the second instance, near the end — after the riffing feverishly skitters and the soloing rings and seductively beckons — mysterious tones glitter and echo, ghostly and elegant yet still perilous.
Spearheaded by Aldi/Wolfsbane, Nokturnal came to life around 2018, with three other hooded members who have remained anonymous.
In addition to the guest solo by Jungs from Headkrusher that’s featured on the song you’ve just heard, the new album also includes a guest synth track on “Bewail The Fallen Light” by axeman Garna Raditya from Indonesian grinders AK//47. The album also includes a cover of Sam Gopal’s “Cold Embrace“, which featured Motörhead‘s frontman Lemmy Kilmister in the lineup.
The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Watchtower Studio under the meticulous helm of Yuda “Bable” Hasfari Sagala. It includes striking cover art by Bayu Mors (Pazuzu, Exhumation, Baphomet, etc).
Pulverised will release Shades of Night on CD, LP, and digital formats, and recommends it for fans of Speglas, Sweven, Tribulation, and In Solitude. For more info, check the links below.
PULVERISED RECORDS:
https://pulverised.bandcamp.com/album/shades-of-night
https://www.pulverised.net
https://www.facebook.com/pulverisedrecords
https://www.instagram.com/pulverised