Band:	0 X í S T
Album:	Nil
Style:	Death doom metal
Release date:	December 12, 2012
A review by:	Boxcar Willy

01. Old World Vanished
02. Nil
03. Cold Dark Matter
04. Arrival
05. Anemone Patens MCCXLIX
06. Of Wood, Stone And Bone
07. Shrivel

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
That is all.

Actually, when 0 X í S T are involved, there is much more than just doom. From the first minute of the first song I knew I was going to be sent on a pleasant musical journey. The intro of atmospheric, slow, and malicious guitar placed a firm grip on my shoulder? The crash of a thunderous, distorted riff cut through the fog, as the grip began to pull me into the woods. Faster and faster my body was flung through the musical forest. My body breaking limbs and boughs of the atmosphere-trees, slamming into riff-filled rocks, only to be consumed by the mass of doom that is Nil.

The music is quite hard to pigeonhole. The band calls themselves "dark metal", which seems to be quite accurate. The mixture of gothic and death doom, with a not-so-normal song writing approach, makes this album a knock out. The listener is sent through heavy filled riffs, harsh growls and slow, powerful drums in some sections, only to be exposed to a more atmospheric, and almost uplifting calm section. The mixtures of song styles make this release quite inconsistent within a single genre's aspects, as previously stated. The wide array of styles and influences definitely make this interesting. I went through the roughly 45 minutes without a single ounce of boredom. That is quite rare.

The songwriting is paired perfectly with a nice, crystal clear production. There are no audio bumps, production flaws, or flat spots to be found here, only a crisp and tight style of doom that is definitely worth hearing.