NEST - Metempsychosis (2018)
We last heard from NEST about two and a
half years ago, with the release of their self-titled debut EP, which
made a good impression with its stylish treatment of a blackened doom
base. After a follow-up EP in late 2016, NEST are back again to
deliver their first LP, and with its half-hour or so of new songs,
the Kentucky-based duo show that they're still in fine form when it
comes to crafting concise assaults of weight-laden fury. Instead of
going the route of sheer blow-out screaming and thrashing, they put
in the work to build carefully-developed melodies, letting listeners
get attached to the tunes before smashing in with bolts of harsh
violence, and keep that defiance of easy templates going the whole
way.
While they've got a certain distance
kept between themselves and rock-out vibes, they do have the ability
to tap into those head-banging energies (check out the end section of
“Gallows of Forever” for a demonstration). Again, though, it's a
work in contrasts; without the more serious majority of the music,
those leaps into more traditional metal vibes wouldn't have the
impact they do. Similarly, their ratio adjustment between the doom
and black metal takes them through a nice, wide range of effects and
atmospheres, finding just as much room for deep grooves as they do
for bone-rattle beatings, not to mention some good old
feedback-soaked power drives. Hell, I actually found myself throwing
up the horns while listening (to “Divining by the Entrails of
Sheep”, for the record) and I genuinely can't remember the last
time a record provoked that response from me. Even more impressive, they got the whole album recorded in just three days, with the songs' cohesion reflecting that feverish outpouring.
The time NEST have taken to put these
songs together has been well-spent, no doubts there, and it's
exciting to hear them stretching their style in so many different
ways on their first full album. As with their first EP, they pack in
one song which dwarfs the others. This time, it's penultimate track
“Life's Grief” (embedded below), which rolls out to nearly ten minutes of powerful
resonance, mixing its huge-sounding majesty with a deep-trenched coat
of filthiness, capably covering the album's two extremes (plus the
band's more experimental side) while also pounding out some heavy
power. If you're a fan of grisly doom and you're not sold by now,
check the full album out once it drops, and let that take you the rest of the way.
~ Gabriel
For Fans Of; Hesperian Death Horse,
Odradek Room, The Sleer, Sunken, Trees
~
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