Nine Covens are anonymous. The press release tells you that. Another marketing technique devised to impress without telling you anything at all about the band. But no matter, because they are anonymous you can rest assured that it's the music that matters and so you'll get what you've paid for. It's like a guarantee of purity, or impurity if you like. Allegedly comprised of veterans from the British black metal underground, with no evidence whatsoever as to who these guys are, we'll just have to take it as read that they are who they say they are, or aren't for that matter. All that's left to do then is judge the music for what it is. Then, maybe we can decide if it is in fact worthy of the usual elevated hype that comes with that god-awful moniker "supergroup" and then assume that the band is actually someone that we do know, and then spend an aeon guessing who they are, thus distracting from the music, kinda like this introductory paragraph…
Is On The Coming Of Darkness any good? Well, yes, frankly. That they must be veterans of some note is evidenced by the tight and focussed playing, by the precise execution, and by the elaborate and solid structures. That each track's scope is far reaching in their individual and collective aesthetic is another indicator that the line-up may actually fulfil the promises of the marketing anti-spiel. Opening with a beautiful acoustic instrumental that reveals little of the darkness that will subsequently consume the listener, the album has all the tropes of the genre. Rapidly-strummed guitar chords like walls of fire, trem-picked riffs like bullets, machine-gun drumming, and barked vocals swathed in reverb to give them depth and density fill the air. The occasional slower passages appear and disappear amid the flames of wrath later on in the album. The mid-section of 'Quake Before Thy Earthly Judge' is particularly atmospheric and strikingly effective, as is the intro and doggerel verses of 'A New Light For The Earth Shall Shine' with its tormented whispers alongside the dragging tempo and downbeat gothic dirge and airy, heavy melodies. This track, 'In Darkness Find The Light Of Solace' with its melodic riffs, menacing vocals, and incessant drums, and 'A Friendless Exile' with its huge, cutting groove riffs and sheer force are the best tracks here, all being starkly and stirringly different from each other.
Whereas tracks 2, 3 and 4 are the weakest tracks here they remain mighty slabs of fire. But the acoustic instrumental opener and the last two parts of the album – 'On The Day Of Judgement' and 'The Exiles Complaint' – are where the album truly shines. On The Coming Of Darkness may not do much in the way of anything new, but it's not seeking to fuse black metal with anything that is or isn't acceptable to black metal conventions (I use the term loosely) either for the sake of it or in an attempt to push any boundaries. This is an album that seeks to stay true to the spirit of black metal and permeate every blackened breathe and every darkened vacancy with that spirit. Much to Nine Covens credit, they have done it very successfully. And as for who it is that constitutes Nine Covens, I don't think it really matters. This is a fucking good album.
Track Listing:
On The Resurrection And The Harrowing Of Hell
- Pt. 1: To Heaven's Door In Swart Night
- Pt. 2: Concealed In Darkness, He
- Pt. 3: Resided To The Darkness, Fall
On The Ascension And The Torment Of Hell
- Pt. 1: Cold Exile Of A Fallen Idol
- Pt. 2: In Darkness Find The Light Of Solace
On The Day Of Judgement
- Pt. 1: Quake Before Thy Earthly Judge
- Pt. 2: A New Light For The Earth Shall Shine
The Exiles Complaint
- Pt. 1: A Friendless Exile
- Pt. 2: A Mind Sorrows Rest
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