Nightbringer - Ego Dominus Tuus - review
Nightbringer - Ego Dominus Tuus - review
Tracklist
01. Prayer Of Naphal02. Et Nox Illuminatio Mea In Deliciis Meis
03. Lantern Of Eden's Night
04. Things Which Are Naught
05. I Am The Gateway
06. Call Of The Exile
07. Where Fire Never Dreamt Of Man
08. The Witchfires Of Tubal-Qayin
09. Salvation Is The Son Of Leviathan (Alabas In Memoriam)
10. The Otherness Of Being
A review by
Ilham November 30, 2014
Yeah, Nightbringer's albums aren't known for being the most accessible works of black metal around, and this corrupted sticky file mishap illustrates how the laziest of you lot could walk past Ego Dominus Tuus without enjoying it: you have to earn it a little. Indeed, the Colorado-based bunch doesn't skimp on additional layers and lengthy tracks to make their art more impenetrable. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a weird avantgarde indigestible monument of wankery, it's just far from your usual blast-shriek-repeat BM. Having a firm foot in satanic orthodox black metal, Nightbringer still manage to differentiate themselves with a very un-American-like, soundscape-creating, gloomy and hateful black metal.
Now, those of you who are familiar with their previous efforts will notice a certain shift in their sound. Less discordant, less straight-forward and more on the atmospheric side. Without betraying themselves, Nightbringer actually sounds more mature. The complexity of the hashed strident guitars is now softened by a clearer harmonious production, which still allows the instruments to fade naturally in a very discreet, subtle echo effect - just a very thin haze really. Despite this change in engineering, the most notable difference remains the appearance of a strata of synths, which brings Ego Dominus Tuus's sound a weeeee-bit closer to something you'd hear in an Emperor album that would have been composed under the influence of horse tranquilizers. Said tranquilizers might be the explanation for the album's s e v e n t y - t w o minutes by the way.
Indeed, with such a nice chunk of time, the band found space to go from total blast-bleat frenzy in the beginning of the disc, to more ominous passages full of "foamy" synths as the album progresses towards the amazing closer titled "The Otherness Of Being". It takes a special kind of setting and some time to fully appreciate such a dense album, I have to admit. However, I'm rarely able to go through more than an hour of any kind of metal without losing attention, and this is undoubtedly attributable to the progressive nature of the songwriting.
We talked about drugs a little earlier. Being in a state of complete sobriety while writing these words, I find it easy not to mention all the references that come to mind while repeatedly playing this gentle beast of an album. But I just couldn't conclude without saying that I am assaulted by strong Darkspace vibes right from the very first track until the end of the piece. The soaring tremolos and the the perfect balance between organic warmth and technical cold of the production are probably the reasons for that. And all this richness of sound pushes me towards writing the risky affirmation that this is, to me, Nightbringer's best album to date.
"I am your God" is - I think - the translation for "Ego Dominus Tuus". Out of the context of their occult-themed lyrics, it sounds a little pretentious right? But hey, when you have to plead with yourself to keep postponing your plans in order to listen to the whole thing, it is the definite proof that there is a higher power at play that prevents you from pressing the stop button. Perhaps the same that keeps testing the patience of my explorer.exe.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 10 |
Written by Ilham | November 30, 2014
Comments
Comments:
15
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Posts: 1331  |
Posts: 1331
I think a 6 for orginality is a little low but overall a nice review and one hell of an album.
---- RIP: Frank Vandenbroucke (6 nov 1974 - 12 oct 2009) Written by Bad English on 05.04.2014 at 15:05 but spoil thius film is like spoil porn and say porn ends whit cum shot ...
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Posts: 5161 Written by Koen Smits on 30.11.2014 at 18:20 This album doesn't display anything new, everything I've heard in it I have in other bands as well. Even if it's really well made. Thank you though.
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Posts: 1331 Written by Ilham on 30.11.2014 at 18:23 Yeah I was thinking you'd feel that way, but it's so hard to discuss originality 'cause almost everything is already done before.
---- RIP: Frank Vandenbroucke (6 nov 1974 - 12 oct 2009) Written by Bad English on 05.04.2014 at 15:05 but spoil thius film is like spoil porn and say porn ends whit cum shot ...
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| mz
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Posts: 5161 Written by Koen Smits on 30.11.2014 at 18:28 Yeah it is, and it's the trickiest notion to apply a number to. The whole rating system in reviews always raises questions, but I find it useful. You just have to take it with a grain of salt depending on how the reviewer sees it. I'm going to write just a couple words to explain how I view it, I'm not lecturing you  . I just gave a 2 and a 4 for originality to a couple albums just last week. I break the 7 barrier only when I really hear something new or when the band has a really distinctive sound in the genre. If I kept distributing sevens and eights to stuff that has a couple good ideas, the whole rating system loses its purpose and I could just give it all up.In the case of Nightbringer, they kinda have their little thing going on, but I can't see this album inspiring another band to do something new, or inspiring the listener to explore another side of black metal, since they're so firmly planted in the late '00s sound.
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Posts: 5161 Written by [user id=110592] on 30.11.2014 at 18:29 Yeah I saw your comment in the album thread, haha. Understand why it's so hard for me to rec stuff to you ? Thanks though.
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| mz
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mz
Account deleted Written by Ilham on 30.11.2014 at 18:40 Btw, while you are on it, why not reviewing that contradiction album? You are one of the most expert persons about orthodox bm on this site it seem.
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Posts: 5161 Written by [user id=110592] on 30.11.2014 at 18:49 This is flattering but I am really not, I can assure you. You are probably offending a few people with this comment too I am sure haha. I could name a good number of people who know the genre exactly 69 times more than I do. Especially since I kinda dropped the whole thing after 2008. But I'd love to review it, expert or not, that album deserves a spot on the front page for sure. Thanks for the idea.
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| Frodd
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Frodd
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Whoa enough reviews already. this is, what, your fourth this week?  jk, keep it up. i think i'll pass on this one though, 72 minutes of black metal, blergh
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Posts: 5161 Written by [user id=114127] on 30.11.2014 at 19:17 Hehe, technically it's just the second this week. Yeah no this isn't for you, go back to Cormorant .
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| Frodd
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Frodd
Account deleted Written by Ilham on 30.11.2014 at 19:36 i submitted a review for dwellings btw, took me less than 30 minutes it's gonna be the half-assed-est thing you've read this year.
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Posts: 4287 Written by Ilham on 30.11.2014 at 18:59 Just tell me when.
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Posts: 5161
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Posts: 2440
Hmmmm this didn't do much to me. I thought it would be right up my alley and expected to enjoy it more. Still hokay good stuff.
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Posts: 1469
Masterpiece. Even more mystical and intense than before.
---- "Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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