Black Faith – Nightscapes

 The modern state of black metal itself is something that far too many people scoff at and then proceed to go back to the originals. While there’s not a damn thing wrong with revering the bands that ushered in the genre itself, I find it very important to continue to move forward even if you aren’t doing anything spectacularly innovative. Black Faith seems to have the same mind frame. This Italian group has taken influences from the real classics of black in order to create “Nightscapes” that is both a marvelous homage to what was and a great vision as to what is. This record is neither a cookie cutter that’s a simple copy of bands like Immortal or Darkthrone, but at the same time, it doesn’t try to set itself aside by being different stylistically. Black Faith throws intense riffs, monstrous vocals, and an overall ferocity the likes of which many other bands have been able to pull off, but each piece has its own flavor. “Nightscapes” clearly has its own taste, flavor, texture, and sensations that really tantalize your consciousness with what’s laid out in the eleven tracks that make up this piece. Even if Black Faith hasn’t broken any sort of new ground whatsoever with “Nightscapes” and instead finds its own place in the well-explored darkness of black metal, and there it finds its niche among the modern greatness of the style. It’s by no means bad because it’s virtually unoriginal, but it’s for basically the same reason that doesn’t make for a more satisfying experience – for me, anyway. Yet, “Nightscapes” still very much holds its ground and makes for a solid black metal experience the likes of which one can never truly tire of. And if I can speculate, I’ve no question that given time Black Faith will transform, even if it’s slight, and that will lead to a new album that shows what these Italians are holding up their sleeves, and that makes me excited because I’d love to f**king hear that.

You can listen to “Nightscapes” on Bandcamp here.

Track Listing:

  1. Obsecratio
  2. Culmination of Injustice
  3. Intermezzo
  4. Never Eternal
  5. In Total Disgust
  6. Throwback!
  7. The Shadow Line
  8. These Corridors Spurt Blood
  9. Nightscapes
  10. Consacrabor
  11. Outro