Nihil: a Latin word meaning “nothing”
Anth: a Sanskrit word for “end”
Nihilanth: a band from Mumbai, India, who have released a grand total of two songs for public consumption. One (just uploaded in the last day) is called “Macabre Existence”, and the other is called “Dimensional Domination”. Both songs are cwaaaazy.
This is death metal viciously struggling to come apart at the seams and engulf the listener in its radioactive fallout. Paying homage to the likes of Necrophagist, Psycroptic, Decapitated, and The Faceless, Nihilanth skillfully whip up a whirlwind of percussion and razor-sharp notes that’s authentically menacing.
With this kind of music, there is indeed a fine line between mindless wankery (yes, there’s that phrase again which has been cropping up in recent NCS posts and comments) and true high-speed death metal that happens to mount its attack through the calculated deployment of precision munitions. I guess it’s obvious that I think Nihilanth stay on the right side of the line.
I’ll grant you that the line is difficult to define, much more of an “I know it when I hear it” kind of thing than something that can be clearly articulated. The line moves depending on the listener, too. Some people have a low tolerance for riff-and-drum blizzards and some people (e.g., me) find it effectively cathartic — at least when it’s intricacy doesn’t become cold and lifeless, when it achieves explosiveness without losing soul, when it has a point within the structure of an actual song.
And again, I think Nihilanth stay on the right side of the line. After this promising start, here’s hoping they stay there. (Cool intro’s to these songs, by the way.)
“Macabre Existence”
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/36250026″ iframe=”true” /]
“Dimensional Domination”
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/29358764″ iframe=”true” /]
Nihilanth are at work on a debut EP. They have a Facebook page HERE.
13 Responses to “NIHILANTH”
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They’re from Mumbai?… Huh. One kept thinking they’re from the Netherlands for some reason. 😐
Anyway… They do feel “on the line”. The guitars feel a little suppressed – in a good way.
Love this. Headbanged from start to finish on both tracks.
So ready your review, what your saying is I should probably skip this band?
I see you picked up on some of my references. 🙂 In your case, yes, I think this is one you’ll probably want to pass by.
They were subtle, but I was able to figure it out. You did exposed me to Haggis and Bong today so I’ll let this one go
The guitarists, Vivek and Sankalp…hats off dudes!! Ur music theory is ridiculously admirable!! Shifting between diminished and slight minor-esque patterns!! The speed is commendable and not there just for the bloody sake of it! Riffs are well constructed…sort of, stick on…kudos to the singer! Has some Nihil-balls to be able to fucking roar like that!! lol…:D Keep it up!!
Um… “Has some Nihil-balls” would mean “Has some nothing-balls” [= “Has no balls”]. (x_x)
Also, what the heck is “slight minor-esque patterns” supposed to mean? (-_-?)
Nihil-balls actually blink anything they come in contact with out of existence.
Ah. That makes so much more sense.
Although, if one were studying the etymology of that word (assuming what you said IS the meaning), one would surely get pissed at the people for their poor forethought in its construction – as evidenced by one’s misjudgement of the meaning just a short while ago.
Bit late, but thanks for this and Gruesome Glory. I enjoy tech death, but for me, it’s something to have on in the background while I do other things, so I have no problem with “mindless wankery.” However, I don’t think either of these bands are, as they’re both technical and catchy as hell. You can tell they actually put some thought into making the song musically interesting.
This is Chub inducing! like the first time i watched Pam Anderson’s intro on Baywatch!!
@Old man windbreaker…
U just crushed the intentions of the comments dude…learn to interpret what others want to say rather than whining with ur silly inquisitiveness…bashing others in forums without substance is OLD now…get it??? OLD!!!!
And by minor-esque patters…I meant, minor structures…can u even write music?? Or read, at least???
Sorry if you see it as bashing. Just trying to make a lame joke.
About the minor structures thing: that’s what I thought. But, your wording confused me a bit.