Band:	Nocturnal Depression
Album:	The Cult Of Negation
Style:	Depressive black metal
Release date:	September 04, 2010
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Credo Negativo
02. They
03. We're All Better Off Dead
04. Home Asylum
05. Dead Children
06. The Cult Of Negation

It's been a long time since I listened to Nocturnal Depression for the last time, probably being the birth years of Nostalgia - Fragments Of A Broken Past (2006) and Soundtrack For A Suicide - Opus II (2007). Somehow I managed to skip 2008's Reflections Of A Sad Soul and two years later, after three years of equal number of albums the time has come for The Cult Of Negation to raise the banners of negativity and I have to admit that, for the first time, their cover artwork is not tasteless. It's not awesome, but it doesn't suck making you wanna buy the album and then slit the booklet instead of your wrists!

I can't hide that when I first listened to their new album it wasn't the most pleasant experience, there was something foreign in there that couldn't help the soundscapes become something friendly, it's probably the fact that Herr Suizid's vocals require some ear-training to welcome them and as I stated above, it's been a long time since the last Nocturnal Depression whirl o' the spin. So, what I did was to bury the album and then bring it back to the surface a few days ago and somehow it managed to grow on me, don't ask me how, maybe during this absence the album did mature in my subconscious mind and the right time to listen to it had come.

2010's Nocturnal Depression sound more to the point in terms of song structure and composing manner at least when compared to their first two releases. The production compliments even more this attempt, it's neither weak nor misty so the instrumentation has the chance to actually show everything it has to say without searching for the music in the background or breaking your speakers so as to listen to the band. The Cult Of Negation balances on the thin red line between fragile and powerful sound. It's warm like the blood running in your veins through moments of desolation with acoustic guitars or melodic riffing dancing on the razor's edge alongside tormented shrieks, yet it also serves its purpose with powerful moments of massive sound, like a nausiating steamroller marching with the driver cherishing his last euphoric moments of destruction before suicide.

The main idea is mid-tempo skin harashment that slows down without being afraid to speed up a bit. A successful blending of doom and black metal with a sense from their neighbours Forgotten Tomb among others and in the end, the fact that their compositions are not so lengthy anymore seems only positive to me since the album doesn't get the chance to tire the listener. The Cult Of Negation is a black hole filled with negativity that will keep you uncomfortable company for about 43 minutes without making you regret the moment you managed to let it unleash its welcome ugliness inside the four walls of your room.