ALBUM REVIEW: Irrlicht – Nocte Obducta
Formed all the way back in 1995, Germany’s NOCTE OBDUCTA have quietly been releasing some incredibly impressive and progressive records for the majority of their careers. Using black metal as a musical base on which to build their music, the band’s sound and style has only grown more expansive with each album they release. Their latest album, Irrlicht, the twelfth full-length that they have released, brings the band’s sound back towards their hardcore punk roots, mixing in a liberal helping of psychedelia, making for an album that is as immersive as it is dark.
Zurück im bizarren Theater is a great opener, blending dirty guitars and steady drums together for a sound that blends black metal with a healthy dose of punk in amongst this incredibly ethereal piece of music. The song’s lighter moments are contrasted starkly by the rabid rasp of the vocals, which add a raw intensity to this relatively lively and grand sounding track. Von Stürzen in Mondmeere, with its bleak leads, massive rhythms and acerbic vocals is a dark, doom-laden offering that slows the pace right down, with impressive guitar lines and vocals in particular giving this song a huge, dramatic sound that draws the listener in immediately.
Rot und Grau has a far more atmospheric, keyboard centric sound that manages to build a foreboding air right off the bat with some extremely immersive hooks, coupled with thunderous percussion, which quickly gives way to a tight, mid-paced slab of black metal. The keyboards feature prominently within the sound here, adding a haunting ambience that makes this song seem absolute monolithic at points, and ties in well with its magnificent, spacey final moments. Der Greis und die Reiterin, a short and punchy number, reintroduces the punk flare that informed the start of the album, giving this song a much more stripped down and gritty sound that, in spite of how brief it is, works really well here.
Until this point, the more progressive side of the NOCTE OBDUCTA sound has been rather subdued, with a few keys moments popping up here and there. This changes with Der alte Traum, a song that makes use of a denser bass sound and hazier guitar tones, moving away somewhat from the black metal sound that was prevalent earlier on the record, although, with feral growls and slick tremolos, those elements still have a firm place within the music, albeit with a great, psychedelic twist.
Bei den Ruinen takes this formula even further, shedding almost all of the bands extreme metal elements in favour of a hypnotic feel, characterised by a meaty, bubbling bass, intricate drum fills and muscular guitars, with the vocals, for the most part, taking on a cleaner, more sonorous approach. It’s a song that’s more prog rock than Ragnarok, and it stands out from the rest of the album for all the right reasons. Noch sees the sound lean more towards black metal once more, with some great, progressive motifs peppered throughout courtesy of the keyboards and guitars, striking an excellent balance between both of these components for a diverse and balanced sound, making for an interesting and engrossing sound that is beguiling from the first note to the last, keeping the listener enthralled and eager for more as the album’s final moments begin to fade away.
This is easily one of the strongest NOCTE OBDUCTA released to date, which is saying something, as many of their previous albums are brilliant in their own right. Although the more overt progression within the band’s sound is more subtle than on some of their earlier work, with only Rot und Grau and Bei den Ruinen going all out and fully embracing the more experimental side, there’s a lot to love here, especially if you love your black metal grandiose and hypnotic. The incorporation of both punk and classic progressive rock influences works really well, and it’s hard to pinpoint any song that is, compared to the others, weak or forgettable. Every song contributes well to the album as a whole, making this record a consistent and powerful extreme metal release that won’t disappoint.
Rating: 8/10
Irrlicht is out now via Supreme Chaos Records.
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