Disharmonium - Nahab

It’s been 2 years since Vindsval has ushered us into Blut Aus Nord’s new era with Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses, a release that I still find to be one of the group’s best, even after having cooled down on it. Barely a year after its release, we’re greeted with the second chapter of this series in Nahab, which builds upon the thematic motifs that have been already established, while simultaneously taking a different sonic approach. To say that I was excited when it was announced would be an understatement. But where there’s excitement, there’s also the risk of disappointment.

Nahab’s bread-and-butter is grinding its listener to the bone. There’s no shortage of clanging and dissonant chords being thrown over erratic and disorienting rhythms, all working in unison to throw you down a pit of cacophony. Whereas though Undreamable Abysses was rather ornate, with off-kilter melodies peering through the chaos in order to further lull you into psychedelia, things here rely on a hypnotic, almost-industrial, churn. Said approach works well in parts, as seen on the furious blasting of “Crowning Horror”, or “Queen of the Dead Dimension”, a tune filled to the brim with slithering atonal leadwork and some oppressive mid-tempos. It’s those moments that bring to mind the group’s previous release, and end up being its highlights.

Said hypnosis can fall flat just as easily though, a feeling that is further accentuated by the fact that not only are the compositions more stripped back, but also by the repetition seen in a lot of the songs. Most of them are built on 4-5 different motifs, not all of which are unfortunately all that effective and can on occasion induce frustration rather than sink me into darkness. Whether it’s the jagged rhythms of “The Endless Multitude”, or the vocal-centric approach of “The Black Vortex”, the effect wears a bit thin after a while. I tried listening to the album within different contexts and moods, and I’ll admit, there are times where it was more effective than others as a whole, but picking it apart really threw me for a loop. And that’s without even mentioning the “Hideous Dream Opus” interludes, single-minute dark ambient ditties that don’t really add much other than being small rest stops, of which “#2” in particular feels misplaced.

And the main problem here is the unfortunate fact that I cannot in good conscience divorce this album from its eldest sibling. Maybe it’s on me for expecting Vindsval to continue in the exact same direction and make “Undreamable Abysses but bigger”, but I just can’t shake the feeling that it feels emptier. Everything is there, both in theory and practice, the dissonance, the head-spinning drum patterns and fills, the thick atmosphere, the works. But for one reason or another it doesn’t hit as much as I’d like. Like I said, the moments that stuck with me the most are the ones that brought the past to mind, with “Nameless Rites” in particular hitting that nice balance between the industrial overtones and the dissonant psychedelia. I know it’s a cop out to say “Yeah I just don’t enjoy it as much” without being able to elaborate on it, but the feeling is just so vague and irritating that I cannot quite define it. I even revisited “Undreamable Abysses a couple of times to see if there was some kind of throughline that I was missing that’d finally help it all fall into place, but that “eureka” moment didn’t come. All it did was further exacerbate my frustrations as to why Nahab didn’t stick with me, and even at the time of writing this review this sentiment still drives me up the wall.

In spite of all that though, Nahab *is* a good album, just not the one I was expecting and wanted. Me saying that it lacks a certain “je ne sais quoi” that I’d hoped to find doesn’t mean Blut Aus Nord aren’t still among the best bands playing this particular style of black metal. As we’ve already established, everything one could expect from the group is still there, albeit twisted and made to fit in a context that makes it feel just a little bit fresher. It’s a piece that definitely demands your attention and for you to sit with it a good amount, something I’m sure to do in the future. If not during (yet another) discography run, then definitely in the event of a third release being announced for this series, something that, fingers crossed, won’t be too long from now.

Highlights: Crowning Horror, Queen of the Dead Dimension, Nameless Rites

Plunged deep into the nightmare now, the 'Disharmonium' series continues to haunt with this second offering. There's still the fascinating dimension to this sound that it is considered black metal while displaying characteristics of the genre only in subtle touches. Blast beats are indeed present but feature in the background for accentuated turns of pace rather than their usual banging obstinacy, and the guitars spell profound dissonance but more as texture with a blunted attack than sharp stringy notes, blending with the prevailing torturous choirs in the background.

This is like ambient in black metal clothing, and there's no one instrument that ever takes the liberty to rise above the others in the mixing space, even on the lead guitar bouts. It's a gestalt of unified textural components, adopting the rounded contour of the perceived dreamworld. There are few spikes in the transient area, in spite of the occurring spectacle of aural violence throughout. It makes it a point to stylistically emulate the atmospheric and subterranean soundlessness of the dream; deep in the subconscious. Powerful dynamics control the various degrees of intensity but the production favors a more velvety smoothness granted to each instrument, so as to entrench the ears and minds down into the abyssal void. It's like the music takes place in a space parallel to the listener's conscious mind and it seems to be putting the audience into a trance, inescapably.

The vocals, even, subscribe to that ideology that all instruments should be utilized as textures. Their goal isn't to deliver lyrics as a real human presence as would be the case in any other black metal. Their monstrous voracity only further alienates the listener and adds to the ongoing troubling confusion: it acts as an agent for the activated subconscious mind. There are no words to hang onto. It's the triumph of abstract over concrete, so to speak. The songs are really instrumental and only have titles (no lyrics) as the single intelligible indication on where we might stand. So it's purely the music that gives meaning; through strongly crafted themes and strange motifs with their highly evocative implications; as there are no words. Instead these are metaphors using the language of musical composition over syntactic verbiage: an unburdening of sorts from the limiting prism of words.

So what does it mean - this amorphous ambient art like odd notes roaming in a seemingly free soundscape outside of time ? It's the expression of dread. And just like a dream, it doesn't just tell you clearly in black and white what it's communicating. Here are a few possible reading interpretations: the wailing lead guitar in the background - that's conscience warning, just like a call back to reality during a fever dream amidst the engulfing terror of discordant chaos. The main theme on 'Mental Paralysis'; a repeating sequence of mind-numbing dissonance; depicts the paralyzing effect of fear, that feeling of being involuntarily motionless and stuck in a bad place. Certain parts, like the endings of 'The Endless Multitude' and 'The Black Vortex', are like fragments of a shattered entity trying to put itself back together, hence their obviously painful endeavor. They sound broken; almost fathomable, but not quite; and animated by some unnatural will to exist. The more melodic 'Nameless Rites' seeps out a bit of sorrow in that trademark BaN drama that always feels like an invitation to profound introspection.

Give it a try. What’s the worst that could happen? Of course there’s always the odd chance you may be sucked into the maelstrom without even realizing it as your mind connects gradually but surely and tightly enough that, next thing you know, you’ve been transported to an “elsewhere” you can hardly describe and you’re effectively no longer in your bedroom. Huh, I jest of course (or do I ?). This is powerfully immersive material and given enough of a real chance, if you let it play its game with you, it’ll grab you and pull you in. And who knows where “in” is.

Written originally for: https://www.sonicperspectives.com/album-reviews/ban-disharmonium-nahab/

Vindsval wasted little time in revealing "Disharmonium - Nahab", the fifteenth album of his project Blut aus Nord, only a year has passed since the release of the previous opus "Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses". Well, apparently we're dealing with a trilogy again, so the good news is that after the "Disharmonium" trilogy we will most likely get some new interesting experiment again. While the bad news is that we have another similar release to endure. Seriously, Vindsval could have limited himself to only one album within the framework of such an experiment, what is the point of giving birth to a trilogy when everything is already clear? Indeed, at first sight, "Nahab" is no different from "Undreamable Abysses": it's an atonal hell again, built on the lead with a high delay and reverb level. Try jumping from one song to another on your player, more specifically, from the middle of any song on one album to the middle of any song on another album – you won't notice the difference.

And yet, there are infractions of the atonal law on "Nahab". As exceptions. Because these "infractions" do not change the overall picture.

In contrast to most of the songs featured on the album, "Queen of the Dead Dimension" is a really serious work in terms of composer's efforts, Vindsval did a good job here. The long awaited guitar picking without a lot of effects enters/barges at a certain point, it's much more obvious than all the previous ones. Then the more coherent tremolo picking appears, so to speak, a "real" tremolo, this time a bit of effects are used on the guitar, it's just echoing tremolo picking. But most importantly, it contains melody, which is so lacking on the whole "Disharmonium". We hear a real music, not some sounds. The only drawback of this piece is that it breaks off when you expect its further development.

Another "full-fledged" piece with "full-fledged" composer's work is "Nameless Rites". Unusually, it starts with the coherent groovy rhythm, and when the chronic atonal lead dies at the end of the first third, a new lead takes its place, coherent this time, then two leads (one of them is tremolo picked) with different melodies come into play. And although this passage turns out to be just a weird bridge against the general background, it still saves the composition – just compare "Nameless Rites" with "The Crowning Horror", in which there seems to be a melody as well, but it is looped, and as a result, atonality becomes the dominant element of this piece.

The next difference between "Nahab" and "Undreamable Abysses" is not at all pleasing to the ear. In the finale of the just analyzed "Nameless Rites" we again descend into the usual hell of atonality, however, the problem of this piece is of another kind: its opening groovy riff is buffeted by some "laughing" tremolo picked lead – oh, what a tragedy, it sounds almost like a saxophone. While in the preceding track "The Black Vortex" we hear some croaking trumpets/trombones. Such auditory hallucinations occur in other episodes of the album, too. Well, listening to "Undreamable Abysses", we were almost tempted to say: "Vindsval, thank you, there is no saxophone," as is now customary in post black metal and modern black metal projects. But no, here you go: here's a simulation of a saxophone. If Vindsval actually used wind instruments, he would just copy the Imperial Triumphant twists, but it doesn't suit him at all, therefore, most likely, all these "wind instruments" are just a guitar disfigured by effects. But the hard truth is that saxophone is the gravestone for Blut aus Nord, nothing original will remain in the project with such a renovation.

Yes, as before, the lead makes you wonder more about its nature than charms you with its melodies on "Nahab". The very first piece "Mental Paralysis" makes it clear that the lead is only obvious when it is tremolo picked (at the beginning of the last third), whereas before that, there was a schizophrenic suspicion that this is just a string orchestra mocking. Maybe it's a really original element, but this lead has only effect, no melodicism.

As for the rhythm, it becomes more understandable as you get used to it: well, it not only creates an intimidating rumble and some unearthly howls. Already "Mental Paralysis" hints that the very boomy downtuned rhythm in the background is more coherent than the lead. "The Endless Multitude" confirms that only the low rhythm provides an anchor to which you can cling – it is not the basis of music at all, it is a reason to stay sane. "The Crowning Horror" throws you back with its opening blasting rampage: the rhythm roars and howls like a storm outside the window. But "Queen of the Dead Dimension" finally confirms that the rhythm (which accompanies echoing tremolo picking) is a typical black/death metal mid tempo groove.

The drum parts are as sophisticated as ever, but sometimes you can lose sight of them due to that atonal hell. Apparently the staggering drum fills work just as well to alienate Blut aus Nord's music from classic metal. In terms of drumming "Nahab" is almost blackened jazz, yep, "Queen of the Dead Dimension" is probably the most revealing. The most interesting drum parts can be heard in "The Crowning Horror" and "The Ultimate Void of Chaos" – in the latter, extremely disorganized, you can even get the impression that only the drummer is generating the music, if only the menacing guitar sound at the beginning of the second third is quite interesting. And he certainly saves the final song "Forgotten Aeon": the guitar seems to be just grimacing here, making some kind of croaking sound (and it's really worse than "saxophone"). Sometimes the drummer starts a blast beat ("The Endless Multitude", "The Crowning Horror", "Forgotten Aeon"), of course, these are very short sections.

The rasping and creaking vocals rather create a kind of gloomy and mysterious background, they are indistinct and hushed, often reminiscent of a whisper – in such a manner you can perform anything you want, in any way you want. Strictly speaking, there is no vocal part as such, there is just some additional noise.

Yes, all this is mysterious, atmospheric, completely devoid of Earth's gravity, but we say it again: this is not an innovation in music, this is an innovation in production. With such an abundance of effects you can mindlessly move your fingers across the fretboard, and any sound will be perceived as the divine afflation. At best, when applied to the "Disharmonium" trilogy (?), it is appropriate to talk about ambient black metal rather than about any other metal genre. And don't "Queen of the Dead Dimension" and "Nameless Rites", which don't speculate on effect but offer music, say that you can't go far with atonality alone?

Summary. Some black metal artists, who get tired of playing black metal, go to industrial or ambient, but Vindsval found a brilliant loophole: it seems to be metal, while also it seems to be non-metal. So you can listen to this kind of music if you are disappointed in metal, but still hope to hear something new. "Nahab" didn't change our minds after "Undreamable Abysses".

The Metal Observer