ALBUM REVIEW: Ntdd Strl – Avræ Lvnæ

Until fairly recently, raw black metal was more often than not one of the least exciting subgenres within extreme metal, with the majority of bands recycling riffs, ideas and mixes that meant that many new releases were indistinguishable from each other. In the last couple of years, however, a number of bands have begun to emerge that are making incredibly imaginative and memorable black metal in this style, with bands like CARATHIS and AVRÆ LVNÆ being leading lights in a this new wave of harsher acts. The latter’s debut album, Ntdd Strl, is an absolute masterclass in how to create engaging and immersive black metal without sacrificing any of the claustrophobic and funereal sound, serving as one of the best albums in the style for quite some time.

Ntr – Cnstlcn D Rn, a grandiose piece of dungeon synth, acts as a great instrumental introduction to the record, drawing the listener in and preparing them for what comes next. Ntdd Strl, the first proper track, is a brilliant piece of raw black metal, tinged with hints of gothic pomp from the crystalline guitar flourishes and accompanying keyboards which temper the muscular hooks and searing vocals with a more accessible and ethereal edge that makes for an excellent combination – a sound that is familiar on a surface level, but subtly distinct. N l Mjstvs Nch, with its sharper, more focused guitar sound, provides a leaner but nonetheless beguiling take on the previous song’s sound, with the keyboards having a less central role and being replaced with soaring, melodic leads with interwoven, hypnotic moments which create a powerful and incredibly catchy take on this coarser style of black metal.

Crpt Strl, with its slower pace and cleaner guitar tone, provides a lengthier, more adventurous iteration of the various styles that have been present so far on the record. The bursts of cacophony, gradual tempo-changes and over-arching keyboards make this even more immersive, shifting from rabid passages through to sombre, doom-laden ones and making this an incredibly imaginative piece of music that shows the full scope of the band’s influences without allowing one to fully take precedence in the songwriting.

Ls Strlls Sn Ls Js Csmcs adopts a similar formula to the preceding song, with polished guitars, measured musicianship and arid vocals creating a fairly reserved canvas for the spacey keys and a more rhythmic guitar playing style, with the speed rising and falling as the song progresses, and the overall sound having a noticeable progressive edge to it that is at odds with the harsh black metal core of the album. Scndnd Ls Nfns Cnfn Strl is a weightier offering, with galloping drums, a thicker guitar and bass sound and acidic, wraith-like vocals, with only a small amount of spartan, jangling riffs alluding to the sort of layered sound that has been present on the vast majority of the songs up to this point. It feels much more straight forward than earlier tracks, although there’s some extremely powerful vocal and guitar performances that still command the listener’s attention.

Ls Rgns Hnsptas Dl Vnrs is another expansive, diverse affair in the vein of a track like Crpt Strl; it uses the longer form and a slower build to create a cavernous slab of progressive black metal with a broad spectrum of tones and elements thrown in to make it even more interesting, most notably in the keyboards and some of the more animated guitar licks. It’s a magnificent song that is dripping with atmosphere, and it makes for a fantastic, epic climax to a stunning record. The final song, Vtr – Cntlcn D Scrpn – a short instrumental piece of dungeon synth with a decidedly more electronic, almost industrial, sound to it – bears some similarities to the album’s opener, but is distinct in its futuristic side, bookending the album much as it began.

It’s often hard to take a style that’s as rigid and formulaic as raw black metal and dungeon synth and create something that sounds inventive and intriguing without straying outside of the genre’s boundaries, but Ntdd Strl does a fantastic job of this, crafting a sound that is as imaginative and engrossing as it is familiar. Not only is the songwriting on this album great, but it’s also extremely varied, with each of these tracks possessing a distinct character and style that makes it stand out for all the right reasons. If there’s a renaissance occurring within the murkier, coarser corners of black metal, then AVRÆ LVNÆ are one of the bands at the forefront of this creative resurgence.

Rating: 9/10

Ntdd Strl is out now via Signal Rex.

Follow AVRÆ LVNÆ on Bandcamp.