Black metal with a different punch is what Noctomb deliver here with their self-tittled album. “Noctomb” has lots of Death Metal features added to give the album some more pepper. By pepper I mean sone other features than the standard Black Metal just to make things a little different. And, by the way, the album has lots of variations regarding to tempo and mood. All these make it an almost mandatory album to any Extreme Metal fan.
Ok, but what are all those differences?
Well, take “Manipulation,” for instance. The track starts a little bit slow with an eerie guitar strumming to give a dark aura. The song, then, goes in a crescendo adding some more elements while the strumming gets even more eerie. The initial bass lines and drumming are so simple that they get almost martial. Here it’s not the technique, it’s the intent. Everything so simple but with a grand effect. Little by little the song goes getting a little more speed and a kind of intricate tempo which contrasts with the simple beginning. It’s the kind of instrumentals that the fan feels vocals don’t fit, but in the end everything goes right. I wouldn’t exactly say “Manipulation” got fast, but the thing is the tempo getting more intricate. This is one good example of how “Noctomb” goes. A big highlight to the drummer who spices all the album with such great fillings. The impression the fan gets is that the drumming goes everywhere in the album.
“Evensong” is another track that varies a lot this tempo thing. It goes from a very a larghissimo to an allegro. In Metal terms the song goes from a Doom Metal tempo to a Death Metal tempo. It’s eight minutes of a constant change of mood and tempo. Again vocals gives the Black metal tone of the song. The drumming goes filling all the possible gaps and spaces with a guitar that sometimes sounds to be out of tune. In fact, it isn’t, but the intent is to pass this impression.
“Noctomb” is surprisingly impressive. Instrumentals are impressive just because, at first, they don’t seem to be getting impressive, but at the end they do.
Noctomb “Noctomb” was released on September 22nd.
Track Listing:
- Cult of Hera
- Kali Yuga
- Born of Cinder
- Zombie Fungus
- Tongues of Madness
- Manipulation
- Evensong
Watch “Zombie Fungus” official lyric video here:
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