Massive Onslaught from Hell

I wasn't excited about this album until I read the title. 'Massive Onslaught From Hell'? Shit, sign me up. I thought this was gonna be a regular old onslaught, but apparently Nahual is unleashing a MASSIVE onslaught on the listener. I brace myself for black metal history to be made.

Hah, I'm kidding. This is not an onslaught; honestly this isn't even an attack. This is more like a couple farmers accidentally letting their cows graze across national lines and creating a mild incident with the opposing country's government which amounts to "Hey, you farmers, put your cows back on your land", and then they comply and everyone forgets about it. The Peruvian metal scene is pretty fucking bad: it's full of uninspired, cheap projects, and though the occasional neat one pops up as a fluke (Goat Semen, invariably) it's too rare to bother with the country's output for the most part. Nahual follows this proud tradition of mediocrity.

If you're going to name your album something as confrontational as 'Massive Onslaught From Hell', shouldn't you make an effort to make the music at least a fraction as intense as the title would suggest? This is rather shy black metal, all things considered. The production's very soft in the guitar department; it's not a buzz so much as a hum, and the drums are played quietly like they don't want to disturb you. Even the grumbly, hilariously accented vocals are soft. It's like a black metal lullaby.

Compositionally: well, it's midpaced black metal. The riffs generally contain about three chords played in a droning tremolo pattern while the drums sloppily tick away with double bass underneath and the vocals grumble like a troll under a bridge. It's extremely repetitive, and not in a hypnotic 'Transilvanian Hunger' way, more like the hum of an old refrigerator way. The melodic sense is sculpted partly from Norwegian viking material but more often from the older parts of the Darkthrone or Burzum catalogs- in short, there's little creativity to be found. Honestly, the most remarkable part of the album is how overly restrained it sounds, as though the band is afraid of playing in a fast or intense manner. The fact that there are like two or three riffs max per song does not contribute to the release's success.

I did not actually know that black metal could be so hauntingly boring, but Nahual has entered a new dimension with this album. Onslaught from hell my ass. Satan is disappointed.