Band:	Striborg
Album:	Nefaria/A Tragic Journey Towards The Light
Style:	Ambient black metal
Release date:	December 13, 2006
A review by:	Herzebeth

01. Nefaria
02. Permafrost Forest
03. Somnambulistic Nightmares
04. Garmonbozia
05. Lament
06. Bleeding Black Tears Of Hate
07. Black Apparitional Void
08. Into/The Hordes Of Darkness
09. Beyond The Shadow Of Silence
10. One With The Night
11. Drowned In Black Beauty
12. Alone in Darkness
13. A Tragic Journey Towards The Light
14. Palace In The Heart Of The Forest
15. Haunted Forest
16. Drowned In Black Beauty II

Striborg is a one man band (like so many others out there) that plays Raw Black Metal in the vein of Darkthrone and the likes but with the addition of ambient elements. The brain of this project is Sin Nanna, and judging by his pictures he must be a really sick and twisted individual...in the better sense of the word of course.

Ok, this piece gathers two productions, the new Striborg material (Nefaria) and a 1995 Demo (A Tragic Journey...). To tell you the truth, I'm not crazy about his old Demo at all, it sounds rawer than a half-dead squealing pig, the voice sounds like someone burping inside an empty can, and the music is not that good either, it's just continuous blast-beats with simplistic patterns, amateur riffing and monotonous structures. I'm totallly sure someone out there will actually appreciate this part, I mean there's people listening to Stalaggh and Whitehouse right?

The worthwhile part comes in the first 7 tracks of this CD; Sin Nanna sounds way more polished and incredibly structured, sometimes I think the addition of the sucky Demo was on purpose to make the audience diversify his evolutionist process; so anyway, "Nefaria" is the segment that Black Metalers will truly love, the explosive assault also comes wrapped with mid-paced riffs, noisy vocals, a lot of melodies and incredibly catchy beats every now and then, those elements make this piece "bearable" and sometimes quite enjoyable. But the ambient segments turn this piece into technical brilliance I need to add; sounds and atmospheres that I can't even begin to explain, you'll have to hear this grim elements with your own ears to truly get what I'm trying to say.

I remember reading the info-sheet a couple of months ago, it said "One of Sunn O)))'s favorite Black Metal artists" I think that sums things up perfectly. Striborg is a Black Metal band for people into Drone, Funeral Doom and minimalist yet shivering music with monstrous dark tones, it's not that hard to digest, but it's not an album that I'll be playing everyday.

Best Tracks: "Nefaria", "Bleeding Black Tears Of Hate", "Sonambulistic Nightmares"