STEMNING: NÀTTSÒL ARE NOT A NORWEGIAN MULTI-SURFACE CLEANER, BUT A DECENT MELODIC BLACK METAL BAND
Despite its chief generalization — an obsession with “trueness”– black metal has been at its most interesting when combined with different genres. Sure, the second-wavers/True Norwegian crew provided a great framework, but working off that framework has been the key to success. That being said, while many bands have profited from adding more ingredients to the stew (Deathspell Omega dabbling in choral music and modern classical dissonance, Nachtmystium and their hard-on for Pink Floyd and Joy Division, Drudkh integrating Eastern European folk music, and so on), sometimes adding too much causes a band to collapse under its own weight (see: Oranssi Pazuzu’s interesting but ultimately repetitive blackened psychedelia, Mayhem’s Grand Declaration of War). Which is why a simple-yet-effective back and forth like the one utilized on Nàttsòl’s solid debut, Stemning, is sometimes all that’s needed to get a fresh take on what could be a tired exercise. Though not necessarily breaking then recasting the mold, the band do enough to vault their album over the top, being simultaneously crushing, lush, and understated. It’s a world that’s both new and familiar.
Like Opeth, Nàttsòl balance well-crafted beauty and extreme metal harshness; they’re at once a melody-and-harmony-obsessed folk metal band and a blastbeat-conscious black metal collective. Like the aforementioned Drudkh, they excel at one of my favorite aspects of black metal: managing to make a harsh riff sound lilting and almost beautiful while still maintaining its grit and edge. But when it comes to straight-up gorgeousness — achieved usually via choir vocals and classical guitar — the band do well where others tend to drift into cringeworthiness. For instance, after a 45 second finger-picked acoustic intro, “Ved Baal I Kveldstime” kicks in with surprisingly fierce black metal. Bands that indulge in folk dalliances tend to dilute one for the other, but there are some vicious riffs on this record. The balance, though, is key: the introspection makes the heaviness more powerful, but melodicism of that heaviness allows the segue between harsh and heavenly to sound natural. By not segregating them then shoving them together, the result is often moving and cohesive.
Also like Opeth, however, the pretty/heavy back and forth can get a bit tiring and predictable. And closer “Ved Hav I Avdagsleitet” isn’t heavy at all, which would be fine were it not for the inclusion of flute, the least metal of all instruments (see also: the intro to Enslaved’s “Queen of Night”, the sole blemish on the otherwise wonderful Below the Lights). If Nàttsòl can find a way to diversify a little bit more without losing their power, they could be a force to be reckoned with in the black metal world. But this isn’t to say they’re a failure now; at the very least, they show a lot of promise. At the most, they’re a band that already demonstrate an understanding of the juxtapositions that have kept people interested in black metal for the better part of two decades. They’ve mastered the moaning minor key riff that keeps assholes like me responding in the most Pavlovian manner possible, along with some cool Gregorian chant-style vocals to boot. They’re a band to keep your eye on.
(3 out of 5 horns)
-SO
