Nonsun - Sun Blind Me [EP] (2013, Breathe Plastic Records/Drowning)

Slowly, the ponderous, stoned out riff of Rain Have Mercy tunes in, accompanied by the soft yet intense sound of an organ. As the riff gains momentum the drums come in until finally culminating in a full-fledged clamor of heavy, sludgy, droning doom metal at the 4 minute mark. Goatooth's moribund vocals emerges from the shadows, and soon after the track slows down to a slower, jamming tempo until lurching into motion again, exposing the consortium of what could be a trippy organ piece or almost psychedelic guitar solo that has been lurking in the many layers of Nonsun. Alpha's drumming betrays a fascination for post-rock atmospheres that Goatooth's ethereal riffing over the originally heavy main course enhances. This is just one way to describe the alluring musical intimacy that emanates from Nonsun's music on Sun Blind Me.

I like drone. And for you to like Nonsun you have to like drone too, even if this isn't the main piece de resistance of the Ukranian duo's music. This group isn't a drone band in the same sense that Sunn O))) are a drone band. While there are long stretches of unmelodic drones followed by nothing but feedback for minutes on end, the duo presents a style with additional influences from sludge and stoner metal at times, resulting in parts that are essentially like incredibly slow and groaning sludgy doom metal, and this variation results in a less inert and inactive type of drone. Like described above, the entirety of Nonsun's music is not the well-known ambience-influenced droning that many other bands in the scene partake in. Vocals are a seldomly occuring thing on Sun Blind Me,but whenever they're there they are executed in a raw style contrasting nicely with the rest of the music.

Sun Blind Me is the second release from Nonsun, an EP of four tracks like the first one, Good Old Evil. However, the first two tracks have been re-used from the old EP, and as such the only new material on Sun Blind Me are the two parts of the Alphomega track, Sunlit Darkness and Upward Blindness. The interesting thing about the 2013 EP is the way it progresses deeper and deeper into drone territory. From the stoned, half-psychedelic Rain Have Mercy we emerge into a more nightmarish soundscape wtih Frogotten Is What Never Was, a track with funeral tones fit for a crypt or funerary procession. With the first part of Alphomega we descend into yet darker domains, bordering on dark ambient. The second part is the most droney part of the EP, the dark rumbling of a black hole underneath a cavernous guitar being the main foundation for the track before being substituted by a bleak guitar piece which rings out for the duration of the track. Upward Blindness is also the shortest track on the EP being only slighty over 8 minutes in length.

Liking Nonsun and Sun Blind Me took some time. You have to take the time to sit down and listen thoroughly to catch all the details. Sun Blind Me is kind of short for a drone doom release, and I suppose that's why the band classify it as an EP rather than a full length album. I originally felt that continuety was a weak point with Nonsun, but after having listened to the release a few times I came to appreciate the progression that I described earlier. If you're expecting mindnumbing heaviness and cosmic emptiness like in the music of Sunn O))) you will be disappointed, because this is not where Nonsun's strengths lie. The autumnal hymns and tenebrous canticles are a beautiful soundtrack to the fall, and I think fans of Om and Earth should be pleased. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Rain Have Mercy
2. Forgotten Is What Never Was
3. Alphomega (Part 1: Sunlit Darkness)
4. Alphomega (Part 2: Upward Blindness)

Nonsun on Bandcamp
Nonsun on Facebook
Visit the official site of Drowning and download the EP for free
Breathe Plastic Records official site

Please leave a comment here on the blog - Tell me what you're thinking, and feel free to share if you want to support underground metal!

Narrow House - A Key to Panngrieb [Full length] (2012, Solitude Productions)

Hailing from Ukraine I can only imagine what bleak and desolate place spawned Narrow House into existance. 4 man and 1 woman strong the band's lot in life is creating godforsaken funeral doom metal focussing on atmosphere, and in 2012 the world would hear the first eldritch groaning that the band has to offer.

Like the strange creaking and moaning of a long-abandoned house the 4-track album slowly blunders into life with the opening track. The mental images created by Narrow House at this early point are those of complete desolation, abandonment and horrid lonesomeness - As it turns out these themes of eerie atmospheres and tenebrous matters are frequent on the album, and definitely one of the band's strongpoints. Their incorporation of classical instruments such as the cello fits the style of funeral doom metal perfectly and gives the music a destinct feel of authenticity and hints toward the filmic, making it almost sound like the soundtrack to some long forgotten black and white silent horror movie.

Narrow House have put the funeral in funeral doom metal with A Key to Panngrieb. Though I don't understand a word of their lyrics or song titles the music speaks its own language. A language of death, ragnarok and darkness. To some the music of the Ukranian band may seem uneventful or bland, but to me it seems to have great depth and particularly well thought through. Add to this that the production is as clear as it needs to be with this type of music. It leaves every aspect audible and yet making it possible for the band to have certain suggestive themes that make their music excel in creating atmospheres.

I like how the funerary procession guitars aren't actually the main focus of the band. The droning chords of guitar and bass go perfectly in unison and are crucial to the music, but without the vibrant cello-work the album would be incredibly boring. The tracks are generally speaking very lengthy, and this serves both as the main attraction and annoyance of A Key to Panngrieb. As most funeralesque graveyard bands the length of the tracks can make it hard to stay interesting, especially when there's so little going on. But again, this is both the thing that makes this type of music work and the thing that makes it tiresome to listen to for prolonged periods of time. But all in all A Key to Panngrieb is a prime example of great funeral doom metal, even if it isn't the heaviest of sorts. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Poslednee Pristanishe
2. Psevdoriatunok
3. Steklianniy Bog
4. Pod Maskoy Etoy

NARROW HOUSE official site
NARROW HOUSE official Facebook
Solitude Productions official site

Deviator - Way of Warriors: Hymn to Immortals [Compilation] (2011, Glorious North Productions)

Most depressive or ambient black metal bands have very little going on structure-wise. Simplistic guitars and repetitive drumming is abundant in the genre aswell as lengthy tracks, mostly with few layers of instrumentation. Ukranian black metalist Lord Hastner of "DEVIATOR" is among these traditionalists, though to say this band is a deviation would be an overstatement.

I've been rather harsh on this summary of Deviator's rather short carreer, and it's always very difficult to grade a compilation like this, especially when it's from an unknown band like this Ukranian project. One thing is certain though: Way of Warriors gives a fair and satisfactory look into the pretty extensive and gloomy back catalogue of Lord Hastner's band. It's always enjoyable to hear how a band evolves and how musicians go from playing one style to another.

Deviator started out playing ambient black metal with a twist of depressive black and ended up playing a more death-like style of black metal. Seeing the transcendence between genres and styles is fun, and in all the periods of Deviator it seems there are both good and less enjoyable tracks. One thing I found out while listening to Way of Warriors is this: Deviator, like so much metal, must be enjoyed loud. You'll get the best sound and be able to hear the best details if you turn up those speakers.

Production-wise the material's great. It gives a great sense of atmosphere and emotion while still maintaining the raw sound of black metal. But regarding the recordings themselves I am completely baffled by what sounds like off rhythms. In a few select tracks it sounds like the guitar is playing a LOT slower than the drums, as if the guitars were recorded without a click-, ghost- or drumtrack. This botches up the rhythm and flow of the entire song and I find it really difficult to enjoy a track like this.
Overall Way of Warriors - Hymn to Immortals is a fair overview of Deviator's discography, portraying both the good and the bad elements. It's (almost) always nice to see and hear a band evolve and take in new elements and styles. 6/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Old Melancholy
2. Forgotten Hope
3. The Last Day of Mankind
4. Mighty Black Inner Flame
5. Mesmerized by Blood
6. Raw Symphony of Sorrow
7. Undying Darkness
8. To Forgotten Path - Triumph of the Will
9. Thy Blood in my Veins
10. Black Sorrow
11. Funeral Future Bells
12. Primordial Darkness pt. 1
13. Primordial Darkness pt. 2
14. Way of Warriors - Hymn to Immortals

DEVIATOR official site
Glorious North Productions official site

Moloch - Illusionen Eines Verlorenen Lebens [Full length] (2011, Glorious North Productions)

Many black metal bands utilize elements of dark ambient in their music, either as intros, by making entire dark ambient songs among black metal ones or by direct incorporation of ambience into the music to create an atmosphere. While black metal by its sheer nature already have lots of atmospheric tendencies, this feel can be emphasized by the use of ambient elements.

The Ukranian one-man black metal band Moloch sets the tone from the first track, which serves as an intro and mindsetter for the rest of the album. "Illusionen Eines Verlorenen Lebens" is in excess of 50 minutes of depressive black metal with a slew of apathy-ridden tracks of atmospheric nature. The tortured vocal efforts of Pr. Sergiy Fjordsson goes hand in hand with the ambient characteristics and the drony and heavily distorted guitars.

The 8-track album emanates a definite aura of cold desolation and is more or less the soundtrack to how I imagine a cold winter in Ukraine. As with most bands in the genre Moloch presents itself with repetitive songwriting, and while this may sound like a bad thing I've always seen it as a means to create the desired feeling with the listener.
There is one thing that bothers me with Illusionen Eines Verlorenen Lebens and many modern black metal bands in general - The drums. It's a damn shame that so many one-man black metal bands use drummachines or heavily sampled drums. It takes away a lot of the atmosphere and feeling, which I feel are essential to music that seeks to invoke those kinds of feelings with the listener.

All in all I'd say Moloch, who is incredibly productive by the way, having recorded more than 70 releases since its creation in 2002, is a fine example of depressive black metal with a boatload of dark ambient elements. Fans of Paysage d'Hiver and Wedard must check out this band. Afterall the drumsound shouldn't have that much of a say on the overall score of the album, but it is something that slightly lessens my oppinion of it. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Illusion des Winters
2. Ein düsterer Winter kommt I
3. Ein düsterer Winter kommt II
4. Dissonanz Tropfen eines glühenden Schmerzes
5. Weg von dieser Welt voller Traurigkeit
6. Unsichtbarer Faden des Lebens
7. Illusionen eines verlorenen Lebens
8. Abgrund meines Wesens

MOLOCH official website
Glorious North Productions official website