Nidernes ‎"Darkness Cenotaph" CD

CD by Black Gangrene Productions NIDERNES' debut is fiercely intense, melody driven, hateful in its outburst

Well… is there a real need to describe Portuguese black metal, today? I dare say it might be one of the hotbeds for black metal in the 21st century. No – it IS in fact one of the hotbeds for black metal in the 21st century, and it embraces me with that overwhelming feeling of accomplishment to say that. We are not just European Football champions; we are also now one of the go-to countries in contemporary black metal (and I am not even a big fan of Football). This just to show how far we, a small country with an amazing history, great beaches, and superb food, have reached the top of “Mountain Black Metal”. How did we do it? Well, NIDERNES will be amongst that lot on top in a few years, I reckon. How so? By producing devastating black metal like the one we have in their – or his – new release: Beyond the Gleam of Nightsky. Darkness Cenotaph from 2020 set the bar high, but the collaboration with Obskuritatem just struck me ferociously. So, on this new one what do we have? We have keyboards, and more keyboards. Those that know me and know where I come from in terms of black metal are aware of my passion for keyboards added to the genre. For years it was seen as “weak” and “not belonging”, but the truth is we went back in time in a variety of aspects, that I feel I got “my” black metal back. Atmospheres and terrifying melodies; not an extended, but a very accurate description of what the artists have accomplished with this one. What more? We have M. from Lamp of Murmuur to sing on a couple of tracks, and it just elevates the tracks to a much higher level. It transports the music to a different layer of creation. What? Yes. What? It is black metal, but you can almost feel that a distinct being is living inside of it. It is not easy to describe, you need to listen to it. Nidernes carries that anger, that aggressiveness, that black metal DNA that we love so much, and this release has made me rethink my perspective on the band / project. The usage of keyboards and clean vocals, a heavy (really heavy) bass, and we were given… this. I feel that the Portuguese musicians have emulated the formula, “played around” with it, and developed a more intricate structure around it; and the most impressive thing is that not a single drop of essence is lost. This is an example of black metal at its best. As a final note, go check ‘Joyous Those Blessed with Madness’, and tell me if that is a not a bloody epic black metal track. Tremendous.

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