Atmospheric Black Metal from Slovakia A reversed and diabolic twin of Dantes Comedy along with other blasphemic poems performed in a full-length atmospheric black metal epos, influenced by the legacy of its Norwegian ancestors as well as by doom and ambient traditions.
Blasphemous Black Metal from Slovakia. Nevaloth refers to a group of persons which lapsed from the religions of majority, something like: unbelievers, renegades, heretics, apostates. Limited 1018 copies
I was initially drawn to Slovakian band Nevaloth's debut album by the artwork on the cover. It promised mysterious and epic, dark music; I expected to hear haunting extreme music with some touches of classical influences. I was not too far off the mark.
"La Diabolica Commodia" (the title obviously a play on Dante's "The Divine Comedy", here "The Diabolical Comedy") contains six tracks ranging from "Apollyon", the one minute long interlude to the concluding seventeen-minute epic title track. The songs are melodic, with keyboards featuring prominently, layered with black metal snarls, occasional lower-register growls, and simplistic black metal riffs. Blast-beats are prominent in the album's most extreme song, "Blasphemous Metal", contrasted by slower parts where the band almost steps into gothic territory. At times, the band reminds me of symphonic black metal acts like Obsidian Gate, Emperor, or Anorexia Nervosa, especially when they go fast. The slower passages laced with keyboards come closer to a band like, say, Embraced.
While there's nothing new here, it is an enjoyable album. The production is fair, if a bit thin (the parts that are meant to be bombastic just lack the punch), and there are enough ideas in each song to keep a listener entertained throughout the whole album. The keyboards sound cheap, but I find it adds to the charm in this case.
Halfway through the album, during "Azazel", the band adds spoken words to the mix, and in the grand finale, "La Diabolica Commodia", we hear female vocals as well. They add a nice mournful layer to the band's sound, hinting at influences from doom/death metal (which can also be found in many of the guitar melodies performed on this album).
"Liber Legis Luciferis" stands out because it features keyboards and spoken words only. Its atmosphere is mournful, with piano melodies playing over strings, but without the rest of the band - without the extreme metal to accompany it - it comes off as a little flat. The band makes up for these somewhat dull seven minutes with the title track, the most symphonic and progressive song on offer.
While none of the riffs or melodies here will raise any eyebrows, they all come together nicely. The atmosphere is more important here; it's music to daydream to. If you want to give Nevaloth a shot, try out the title track as it includes a little of everything that makes up the sound of Nevaloth. If you like it, you'll probably like the rest of the album.
In my opinion the album should have been darker, more diabolical if you will. Many melodic parts come off as a little too nice. Fortunately many of these parts are contrasted with harsh vocals. At any rate, check it out if you like extreme symphonic metal.
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