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Nefarium: Ad discipulum

18/05/10 || Altmer

Right from the get-go, I figured that this would be black metal. I put on the album, and I was not wrong. This is indeed black metal, of the more ferocious kind. There are no frills to be found here – there are eight songs, similar track lengths, full-on blasting, with some melodic moments in there from the guitars to give a break from all the insanity and chaos going on. If this reminds you of one good black metal band from Sweden, you would be right: these boys do sound like Dark Funeral.

Unfortunately there’s only one Dark Funeral, and that’s the one staged at my death, so these nefarious Italian disciples of Satan will have to play second fiddle to the real DF forever. I’m not really phased by this because this is really just the second coming of Dark Funeral, however it is not as good. This is “Attera Totus Sanctus, part II”. Is that what you want from life? More of the same? More same old, same old? If you dislike change, this album is for you. If you long for some good old school black metal brutality this is for you. If you are looking for something that hasn’t been done before, then look away (no, it hasn’t really been done better by other bands except DF).

The rest of this album is high-quality. Everything fits neatly. The riffs are sufficiently brutal, the drums are sufficiently powerful, the bass is sufficiently existent-to-the-point-where-we-know-it-is-there-but-nobody-gives-a-fuck-about-it, and the vocals are sufficiently powerful and growled enough to make you feel like Satan is ripping you straight through the bowels of hell. In fact, this is probably the best thing you could ask for from any black metal band that is not Dark Funeral. In fact these guys are even touring with Dark Funeral. So they are probably going to be buddies too. They also have the ex-drummer from Gorgoroth, establishing even more BM credentials. The singer of 1349 does guest vocals on one song too. If the DF mention isn’t sufficient for any of you to give it a spin then these black metal namedrops might do the trick. Still not sufficient? The album was mixed and mastered at Sonic Train studios, run by Andy LaRocque of King Diamond fame. There, now you’re sold, aren’t you?

Also, on one song there is a violin that works pretty well in concerto with the rest of the music, so if you are a lover of that instrument you will love one song on here (it’s pulled off pretty well). The rest of the songs still sound like Dark Funeral though, so the previous point still stands. At least they had the sense to try and be somewhat unique, and it worked. Kudos to them for pulling off some unexpected shit as well.

I enjoy this album, but I look for a tidbit more originality in my music (apart from that violin, more of that next time please), so this won’t get very regular spins on my computer/stereo. I’m keeping it though because it’s the best quality traditional black metal I’ve heard in a good while. Thank you, Nefarium, for not sucking. It’s another record for the “will listen occasionally when in the mood for this stuff” heap, and that’s already more than I bargained for anyhow. 35 minutes of good black metal. Je suis impressioné… Might be a grower, too.

Sentence: Stay true, and lose the corpsepaint, that shit got old in 1995.

Information
Released: 2010
Label: Agonia Records
Website: www.nefarium.org
Band
Carnifex: vocals, guitars
Vexator: bass
Garghuf: drums
Adventor: lead guitars

Tracklist
01. Tongue Of The First Pope (Simon Peter)
02. Hands Bleeding Fear (Pontius Pilate)
03. The Bastard Son Of Satan (Jesus Christ)
04. Shepherd For Dead Lambs (Johan The Baptist)
05. Sharpening The Spear Of Longinus (Cassius Longinus)
06. Servus Servorum Satanae (Benedictus XVI)
07. Seven Whores Of Magdala (Mary Magdaleine)
08. ‘Mass Infanticide By The King Of Judea (Herod The Great)

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