The long wait is over! The new album of Kharkiv band Nokturnal Mortum is finally out via Oriana Music.
Істина (Verity) enthralls the listener. It exalts the motherland love in a more intense form. It joins Ukrainian and Slavic folkloric instruments to their sound, creating a rich and unique folk orchestra. The album begins with an atmospheric track, just as the opening track of the previous album “Голос сталі” (The voice of Stell). A bukkehorn sounding creates an intense emotional charge. “Мольфа”(Molfa) starts discreetly, the drums intensely buildup the entrance of a sopilka (Ukrainian flute). A sweet dulcimer and bandura wrap themselves in the dense guitars perfectly, creating the unique sonority of Nokturnal Mortum. Vargoth’s growling perfectly fits the more aggressive instrumentation. In most songs, his diction allows the understanding of words in the mother tongue, leading the listener’s imagination to wander through the golden wheat steppes under an intense blue sky.
The crown jewel is “З чортом за пазухою” (With Chort in My Bosom), the heavy guitars merge with the sopilka and the traditional strings, while the background keyboard creates the unparalleled and pervasive environment for choirs that exalt the love of the native land. “Смерековий дід” (Spruce Elder ) is charming and features a magical ambiance carrying the coldness and enchantments of the east, sweetened by the dulcimel and the nostalgic bandura. Once again, these traditional instruments play a very important role in the band’s signature sound.
“Дика вира” (Wild Weregild) is also one of the best tracks on the album. Majestic with very positive energy, it captivates with the choirs and the instrumental that starts around the third minute, consisting of keyboards and the touches of soft dulcimer. It is followed by “Ліра” (Lira) cover of “Кому Вниз”, the single released in December 2016.
The composition is clear and clean, no instrument is left behind and everything is balanced here. The 74-minute-long journey is quite consistent, entertaining and no detail is left unattended. Combining the ambiance with the album theme was undoubtedly the focus of the band.
The melodic keyboard track “Куди пливуть вінки рікою?”, accompanied by an instrument not very common in Metal music: the jaw harp and synthesizers, closes this magical album. However, the name of the next album has already been advanced, “Оберіг”, which means “amulet”, curiosity sharpens, no doubt Nokturnal Mortum remains on the right path.
Undoubtedly this is the best album ever produced by Nokturnal Mortum who is one of the most solid propellers of the pagan black metal movement.
***SOPILKA*** not ”Solpika” fix the name.
It has been corrected! Thanks for pointing it out!