Ninnuam provides no new angle on death / black metal, no new standard of musicianship, and no great variety from song to song. But they do what they do very well! So if you're a death metal / black metal fan, you'll be happy to add this record to your collection.
Straddling that invisible line that divides death metal and black metal, these guys use the standard tools of their genre: A double-bass attack that is very well restrained in the mix and does not dominate. Very tight dual guitar work without the excessive distortion employed by other first-timers and beginners in extreme metal – their style is refreshing, with clean-guitar often layered over distorted-guitar, with the two trading riffs. Omnipresent keyboards that almost never come to the fore but add an important symphonic texture. Melody (yes, Virginia, there is a melody in death metal) and rhythm that other newbies to this genre ought to study and copy. There are no clean vocals, the growls are clear, the words almost audible, and in some sections the Swedish six-piece uses a duet of growlers for interesting effect.
The execution is excellent, production is exemplary, there are enough technical elements to call them (almost) progressive / death / black metal, and there are enough symphonic elements to keep your interest throughout. Along with the title track, cut #6 "Scar Salvation" is a standout piece employing standard death metal riffs and chord progressions, but introducing enough variety to make it one of the more interesting extreme metal pieces. It is thrash-heavy, then suddenly there's a break with a soft, mellow keyboard-led section, dark, melodic and brooding, with whispered vocals – then we're back to the standard fare. That soft break makes the whole piece far more menacing than the other tracks.
You get good death metal, and you get plenty of bad death metal. It is abundantly clear that this album comes from the right side of the tracks. It is very good, but would benefit from more innovation. But hell, it's only their debut, and with a bit more refinement these guys will come close to Dimmu Borghir, the black-metal gods after whom they have clearly styled their very brutal, yet very melodic hybrid of blackened death metal.
Track listing:
- Process Of Life Separation
- Godhead
- My Sphere
- Sect
- Dark Visions
- Scar Salvation
- Optional Existence
- Soulwounded
- Morbid Appealing
- Age Of Unknown
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