Nihil Mortum: Aletheia

Heavy metal in Finland continues to expand and to flourish. Fans of extreme metal will certainly want to turn their attention to Nihil Mortum's debut album Aletheia. They will find it to be full of all the elements that make black metal so popular these days. The band lists Mayhem, Opeth, and Morbid Angel as similar acts. I'd have to agree with this assessment, though I must admit that Opeth's body of work, including their earliest releases, is much stronger. Still, these guys have put together a forceful record that will likely please fans of black metal.

Here's what I liked about this album--the constant use of unexpected musical arrangements and meters. As I listened, I challenged myself to figure out what time signature these guys were using. I'm no expert in this matter, but every time I found the beat, I was quickly reminded that these guys control the beat, not me. I generally like it when extreme metal bands experiment with meter and arrangement; it makes me feel as though they respect listeners enough to explore interesting directions. Having said that, I should mention that most of the songs feel as though they are hewn from similar materials. Too many of them begin with modal passages played on an acoustic guitar. Once the basic theme is established the band brings the onslaught of hard and extreme metal. Even though the songs are arranged in cool ways, the introductions need not have been all the same. I enjoyed the acoustic passages quite a bit because they always sounded so bright and crisp, but I found the inevitable explosion of death metal to be quite a bit muddier in its sound.

The lyrics, so far as I could tell, are all taken from the satanic-infused themes that we've come to expect from this style of metal. I confess that, at times, it all seemed a little plodding. I understand that some bands want to think about the world without Christianity, but are their thoughts limited to only a few such topics? I was intrigued by the way Nihil Mortum divided the word "Satan" over two tracks. I wondered if they were attempting some kind of thematic tie between the two tracks.

I did not like the voice-over material that appeared on some of the songs. Lots of bands to this, but, in my opinion, they do it too often. On this album, the voice-overs sounded like the band took materials from movies or political speeches and mixed them into the background to provide thematic cues to their lyrics or, perhaps, to nod to important influences. I found it distracting and overused, at times confusing. The track "Universe Intoxicating" was easily the worst offender because the band mixed the voices together in a muddy and confusing way. I'm sure it was intentional--and I can see the sound being sort of cool--but it was another example of the music getting away from, well, the music.

Track Listing:
1. Praised Be I
2. Sat
3. Tan
4. Oh Lord
5. Universe Intoxicated
6. New Messiah
7. God
8. Cursed Decade
9. Blunt Force Trauma
10. Pleasure Obedience

Added: October 9th 2012
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Myspace Page
Hits: 2011
Language: english

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