Nexaeon

Man, what a guitar tone. Nexaeon is what can best be described as Illidiance's transition album, within which they exorcise the lingering spectres of their symphonic black metal origins and begin introducing some of that digital swaddling that encapsulated their approach later on. I have drawn the Shade Empire comparison before, but I believe that it holds more weight here than ever before. If you like Shade Empire, Illidiance have your number on Nexaeon, as they are still very much a melodic black metal band at this point, skirting around between snappy tremolo work and powerful electronics that muffle the more audacious fare within. Judging this for what it is, we can easily draw some parallels to Vesania and Anorexia Nervosa, insofar that there is a fair aggregate of bruising, quasi-death metal grooves interspersed within moderately dissonant atmosphere and frankly ridiculous performances all around. The audacious blend present here comes close to sounding like a cacophony at times, primarily due to the fact that Shkurin is already introducing his Scar Symmetry-esque cleans in earnest by this point. So imagine such commercial fare paired with what is honestly a rather comprehensive take on sterile, cinematic black metal tropes, and well... it isn't quite what one may expect if they aren't privy to Illidiance's initial incarnation.

A ridiculous listen to be sure, but does it lack in the exultant wares glossy black metal of this order typically brings to the table? I would say that no, not necessarily. The presence of a full-time and more traditional keyboardist in Tkachenko helps keep things from devolving into purely artificial indulgence. The band is plugged-in and wired to the point that I considered whether or not they were mainlining Red Bull! This doesn't necessarily concern the band's ability to crank the speed up to dizzying levels, but these songs are quite busy and go through so many riffs it is hard to really draw a consistent bead on them at times. Caffeine is clearly the order of the day, and this hyperactive proclivity for quasi-death metal punishment with an occult proclivity does make some sense once you listen to Damage Theory, and thankfully Nexaeon retains just enough esoteric edge to deliver wiry, sadistic ambiance of above-average quality. Some tunes like "Countdown to Annihilation" take Emperor-esque string snappers and pair them with that good old Plutonian complexion that later became the primary armament for these Russians.

At its heavier moments, it does come awfully close to Zyklon's World ov Worms, insofar that it pairs excellent black metal aesthetics with more packed-on muscle and heavier girth concerning the rhythm section. The drums are just beyond ridiculous and sound like an MG42 blanketing defilade with gunfire. Comparisons can be drawn to later Limbonic Art concerning the antiseptic accuracy of the performance, but this isn't a drum machine? Kudos to Brezhnev in that regard, as he could make a nice touring fill-in for some of the biggest bands, ala Kerim Lechner or Tony Laureano. The stranger moments of the record generally revolve around Shrukin's clean vocals, but they actually fit very nicely and aren't pushed as extensively as later on. The short refrain he contributes on the title track is a nice complementary ditty to the orchestral fare that bookends it, and when these sections are taken in at face value, it works pretty well.

Taking all of this into account, Nexaeon probably isn't quite what you would expect at first blush. There is a fair bit of mechanical chugging to the rhythm guitars, and the song structure is looser and more modulated than most output in this vein. The production is just something else, and to echo my opening statement, the guitars just sound frankly audacious. Not in a massive or overpowering way either, but the tone is so bottlenecked toward the upper-mid range that it sort of suffocates by its own hand and damages the sonic potential of the record. It doesn't ruin it for me, but if Nexaeon was better produced it could have possibly been a symphonic black metal juggernaut. The Shade Empire parallel is drawn again, as Sinthetic suffered from almost identical sonic imbalances. Still, this proves that Illidiance's catalogue will appeal to two different camps altogether. If you can't stand the thought of "cyber" metal, but don't mind some of that Deus Ex (I make this comparison a lot but it fits) atmosphere in your black metal along with some of the electronic and avant-garde trappings that Morfeus from Limbonic Art is so well known for, Nexaeon may just get your rocks off.