EP REVIEW: The Great Dying – Nadir

Norway’s NADIR come with a decent pedigree behind them. Formed of members who all have experience within the world of extreme metal – JAGGED VISION and OCEAN DWELLER are but two of their former outfits – they’re looking to carve out their own path in black metal, a genre that has made leaps and bounds over the past few years. Now, the first taste of what to expect is incoming, as their self-released, debut EP The Great Dying drops this Friday.

NADIR are keen not to take things on autopilot; this isn’t their first rodeo after all, and they will be aware of how beneficial a strong start will be to them going forward. The Great Dying features four tracks and the first, lead single Tungetale is comfortable and familiar. Granted, it’s not going to set the world alight, but the well-trodden path of a raw production, bleak guitars and distorted vocals from Oli Wek is enough for NADIR to set out their intention immediately. Trishul brings a more classic/thrash feel into the mix with its galloping riff and gets pacier as the song progresses. It’s more instrumental than Tungetale and certainly less extreme, however the chugging tempo is a nice change and adds to NADIR‘s promise.

The title track is arguably the weakest song on the EP; back to a more regular black metal style, it ticks all the boxes to make it as such – including conjuring images of men in corpsepaint, standing in a snow-laden forest staring into a video camera – but there isn’t anything particularly special about it. However, The Wasteland of Man is a strong final track: it’s steady but hard hitting and the slight shift in gear halfway through pays off as well – the resulting middle section is heavy and will get heads banging. Ironically, given that it’s a very good closing song, the actual finish of a fade out is odd and doesn’t quite work. True, it leaves the listener wanting more which is probably the whole point, however a more definitive end would have been a better way to round off the EP. As it is, there is an expectation of another track to follow, which is then met with a disappointment that there isn’t and, consequently, the release feels unfinished.

Although the bands prior to NADIR weren’t exactly household names, they carry enough weight in the extreme world that there would have been a fair amount of pressure on the members to deliver immediately. The Great Dying isn’t explosive, but it’s certainly got promise, and that bodes well for the Scandinavians as they look to record more and release full albums in the future. Definitely worth a couple of spins.

Rating: 6/10

The Great Dying is set for release May 1st via self release. 

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