To me, Numen is a completely new name, but they’ve apparently made a name for themselves in Spain, and predominately in the Basque area. With the lyrics in their native tongue Euskera (did not know what word before) it’s pretty much impossible to get their message, seeing as the song titles just look like mumbo jumbo to me. But as the lyrics have been translated to English, and of course included in the booklet, you’ll see the trail of anti-Christianity, local myths and legends. The original release date was back in 2007, and didn’t include translations and was only sold in Spain and Portugal. So here we have the re-vamped Numen album, this time with the up-and-coming label LADLO Productions behind it.
There’s no doubt in my mind these guys are heavily inspired by Norway’s black metal scene, relying heavily on the same kind of fast-forward, melodic black you’d normally find there during the 90ies. Satyricon is a name that keeps popping up, as well as Immortal does. And when I say it’s fast I mean it’s fast, it’s pretty much nonstop blazingly blasting from start to finish (or maybe I should say it’s blasting in various speeds from start to finish). Since the tracks are quite lengthy, in between five and ten minutes, you need interesting and strong song-writing to keep the listener’s interest. Numen have pretty much nailed it in that department, eventhough I actually do tend to get a little easily distracted at times.
Riff-wise it carries a very melodic flair with prominent guitar lines, actually reminding me a whole lot of Vargavinter, a Swedish band that released an album in ’96. Occasionally I get vibes reminiscent of Midvinter as well, another Swedish band, but that released its only album in ’97. So I guess that it’s safe to say that 90ies Scandinavian black metal was the shit for Numen. But it’s not only semi-melodic, they do incorporate some minor folk influences every now and then. You’ll hear a few traditional instruments thrown in, but it’s used quite sparsely, which in the end makes the folk influence more lingering in the background. It’s difficult to say which track utilizes it the best, but I’d say Belearen hegaldiak... iluntasuna dakar simply for the awesome break about 5½ minutes in as well as the eerie and haunting ending.
The production’s pretty good, I must say. It’s clean and crisp, but not too digital so as to deteriorate the old school touch the tunes carry. Vocally it lingers somewhere in between typical black metal shrieks and high-pitched screams, changing style and pitch every once in a while. And the diversity, powerful riffing, tight execution and slick folk incorporations are what make this a bloody good album.
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=jsMH53VOdoo
