A Faint Aurora

Senseless Life Records didn't have many bands worth writing home about. I would look at their catalog whenever they sent me a list of new albums to review, but looking back - with a few exceptions - there was never really anything good. That may be partly down to my taste in music conflicting with the styles that they seemed to promote, but even when there was something that wasn't the same old black metal or thrash metal or deathcore, it never hit the mark of being truly exceptional. And with their first EP, I had thought the same of Mist of Nihil. Granted, it was the best record to come from the label before it dissolved, but it still lacked that special something.

On A Faint Aurora, they have found it. Since my last review of the band, I think I've learned to appreciate what Mist of Nihil were always trying to do a little more than I used to, but that alone does not account to how immense this album is. It's loaded with atmosphere, it's filled to the brim with emotion, it's far from lacking technically, it's truly one of the greatest albums that I have ever had the pleasure of hearing.

Like In Mourning who I recently stumbled upon, the guitarists have this incredible ability to channel so much emotion through such simple patterns of riffing, but they appear equally capable of showing off their technical prowess. Yet it never seems difficult in the way that they do, and it flows beautifully with the rest of the music. The melodies are all-encompassing, and as Erosion of Humanity stated in his review they do smother the listener. But I view that as a good thing, and the melodies really hit me far more than those of any other band. It isn't like listening to a melodeath band in the vein of Arch Enemy, where there sometimes seems to be technicality merely as a boost for the guitarist's ego, here it is all about adding to the band as a whole and complimenting the ability of their band-mates. The way that it should be, you might think, but in a world full of Dave Mustaines and Alexi Laihos, one member of the band more often than not gets the spotlight.

In my other review for this band I wrote off both the drumming and the vocals. Ignore what I said there. The drumming might not be spectacular at the relatively slow pace that A Faint Aurora runs at, but it is far from being bad and like the guitars it fits very well with its surroundings. The vocals are probably something that I just wasn't used to at the time of writing the review of their EP, because I can find no fault with them whatsoever. They're powerful and remind me heavily of the guy from Red Moon Architect, and they aren't out of place by any means.

The band as a whole manage to weave very quiet and slow atmospheric sections into their music with ease. It happens on multiple occasions across the album and on the long songs especially you can expect them to make an appearance. It works much better blending them seamlessly into their mournful melodic death/doom than letting it stand by itself I feel, and if my love for this album was ever in doubt then I guess that would be there to make sure of it.

The thing about Mist of Nihil is that they can keep the emotion going for the entire 70 minute duration of A Faint Aurora. Most bands doing a similar thing would have me bored way before the end, but these guys really are talented, and I was captivated for the entirety of it. In all honesty, I wasn't ready for it to finish, and I was blown away when I heard the album for the second time from one end to the other. I was blown away on the third listen, and the fourth. It is an album that never ceases to amaze me, and I did seriously consider giving it a higher score. But despite how accomplished this album is, I can't give it anything higher than the score I gave it. Something stops me, some part of me refuses to put this on a par with Infinite Tales or The Project Hate MCMXCIX or Tyrant of Death. It's odd because I said at the start that they'd found that special something, and I truly believe they have, but for some reason I can't see this album becoming as dear to me as albums I've loved by the artists I mentioned before. And in all honesty I don't know how they'd go about making their work any better, but I get the feeling that Mist of Nihil can and will still ascend further.