Ego Dominus Tuus

The obsession with anything occult or outre is not exactly a novelty in the metal world, but occasionally it will assume a much more complex and nuanced dimension owing to musicians who insist on addressing such topics with utmost maturity and profundity. In these cases, the listener will not be exposed to incoherent rambling or pathetic praise of Satan as a symbol of adolescent rebellion, but will acquire a more complete and relevant interpretation of the belief. With the emergence and escalation of the novel and notorious tendency titled “orthodox black metal“ such focused attempts at bringing these teachings into a musical medium are slowly becoming both more numerous and nauseous. But as is the case with almost any genre, and it is indeed an awful cliche to repeat this tiresome tautology, there are worthy exceptions to the mediocrity and sterility of the most. On top of this, Nightbringer are American, which may produce requisite negative connotations, as most bands from the United States produce recycled, uninspired and tepid music. Nightbringer, on the other hand, take their music seriously and the result is more than a competent and acceptable exercise in the style.

From the first minutes, the listener is assaulted with a caustic cannonade of the frenetic percussion and demented vocals, with some interesting guitar noodling interrupted by the requisite tremolo sections, but, thankfully, a rejuvenating variation is then added in form of intense double bass and some guitar leads. And this is only in the first track “ Et Nox Illuminatio Mea In Deliciis Meis“, as the album will proceed will equal dementia and dexterity. The second track “ Lantern of Eden's Night“ proceeds with quite comparable dissonance, only adding some guttural vocals for a more expressive and bombastic quality, varying its tempos often enough so as not to become a tedious stampede, nor a sluggish offering. In light of this, it is comparable with later “Where Fire never Dreamt of Man“, which also enriches and underpins the said dissonance with some melody to add it direction and identity. The following track introduces variation once more, as it restrains overt and constant brutality for further massive sense of atmosphere through some exquisite symphonic flourishes, and this orchestral orientation one encounters on the very next track “I am the Gateway“ with quite apt approximation of eerie segues of organs, as well as on the following track “Call of the Exile“ a completely ambient piece with mantras and chants and some ethnic overtones. Some tracks even bring some martial elements to the table. At times, these orchestral tendencies become indistinguishable from the maniacal and misanthropic guitar work, as is the case with “The Witchfires of Tubal-Qayin“, which also emphasizes the wall of sound over any instrumental identification. The brazen barbarity of the vocals remains present through the release, and adds it a rather bestial and maniacal aura, particularly when so competently coupled with ominous orchestration and pristine production. Have no doubt that all of these elements in their formidable fusion provide quite a visceral and visionary experience, one that is to haunt the listener for some time afterwards, trying to collect the nuances and contrasts within such caustic collage.

While this is yet another of those releases with an accent on the atmospheric component, there is still a respectable and reasonable riffing dosage within, and thus it manages to fall somewhere between the bands with a penchant for strings, and those that are more atmosphere-minded and mood-driven. The licks, solos and dissonant passages will pervade the swelling and swarming ambiance, as harrowing and haunting vocals add more mystery and agony to the already monumental and spectral atmosphere. The drums are a strong-point here, with tremendous and tireless delivery, that manage to become an integral and important aspect of the sound, despite their sensational stamina and speed. For those in mood for a lyrical lesson in all things occult, the lyrics will provide an abstruse and abundant source of obscure references, and so add to the already impressive and indisputable quality of this release. One must, however, bear in mind that this is not background music, but a lustrous and legitimate expedition into the occult teachings and theories. Recommended. 90/100

Out of the wicked mountainous dwellings of Colorado emerge NIghtbringer with their new release "Ego Dominus Tuus". This album marks the fourth full-length to be released by the US black metal band since their formation in 2001. It's comprised of black metal musicians who, for the most part, have all started their own solo bands outside of this band but have collectively culminated together as Nightbringer. You definitely get your money's worth on this album. Clocking in at over 72 minutes, "Ego Dominus Tuus" is as massive as a plume of smog dissipating off of a funeral pyre.

There is certainly the element that I would say is very old school spooky. "Old school spooky" as in haunted castle full of bats kind of spooky. Things like the church organs on the end of "Things Which Are Naught" drive this home and the ominous vocals, uttering blasphemous incantation, really remind me of the band Bal-Sagoth and how none of their lyrics are really sung or screamed but rather very dramatically recited. There is definitely cheesiness to this music, as sinister as the band and record label would like you to believe it isn't. But it's only slightly comical. The ripping guitar riffs are as serious as a heart attack.

Near the end of the "Ego Dominus Tuus", the songs begin to spiral down into more tangible atmospheres. The sense of occultism and ritual are certainly communicated better on tracks like "Salvation is the Son of Leviathan" than most of the preceding tracks on the album. It's somewhat refreshing but also somewhat baffling. The majority of this Nightbringer album is made up of your atypical black metal composition. Similar to Dark Funeral, Darkthrone, and 1349, the audience is getting more or less the same quality of black metal as if they were listening to any anti-Christian band from Europe. Nightbringer is certainly upholding a USBM standard to their music but the music sounds ancient.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. There are a lot of ancient Sumerian vibes I am getting off of songs like "I Am the Gateway", "Call of the Exile" and "Et Nox Illuminatio mea in Deliciis Meis". But, aside from the flavours of elder harmonies from heretical histories, the black metal does bring back a lot of roots from the early-to-mid 1990's and how it sounds now, twenty years later. Nightbringer accomplish a feat of musical necromancy by resurrecting the lifeless tones and rhythms of the second wave of black metal that is so highly revered by the subgenre's elite fan base. They can draw out a little long, which gets pretty boring after the first five minutes. You're no longer feeling a wicked and supernatural atmosphere, you are just listening to the keyboardist mess with a sampler.

If you are a huge black metal fan, you shouldn't skip on "Ego Dominus Tuus". I just wouldn't recommend this release for any of the uninitiated audience members or carriers of curiosity for black metal.

Originally published at Metal-Temple.com, 12-26-14.

Hailing from Colorado, Nightbringer are, quite obviously, a black metal band. Also, quite obviously, they rather recently released an album called Ego Dominus Tuus… So, now that the most dodgy and generic introduction on this whole site is over and done with, let’s get to describing the music, shall we?

Ego Dominus Tuus is generally called a black metal album, but in that description, I think there’s an important distinction to make; Nightbringer do not play the catchy-riff driven black metal peddled by bands like 1349 or Inquisition. Their music separates itself from conventional song structures and musical standards even further than most black metal, and could rarely (if ever) be described as hard-hitting, or ‘brutal.’ They instead create a dense, clawing atmosphere with their music, which when done poorly, can sound like a whole bunch of meandering bullshit, but when done well, (Such as in Ego Dominus Tuus’ case) has the potential to be absolutely mind-blowing.

While Ego Dominus Tuus may not appear to be the most sonically pleasing set of noises on the first few listens, once one begins to let the album sink in (over multiple listens), it just becomes an absolute joy to behold. Not a single note feels out of place, and every sound these Colorado musical geniuses decide to pump into your skull feels like it has ecstatic meaning beyond its mere placement in the music.

The album starts which what would likely be considered by many to be pretty standard atmospheric keyboard noises. Reasonable stuff, and I like it here, but I can understand being annoyed at this small aspect of the album, especially since every fucking metal album has at least a minute of fucking synth whispers before they get into the music they’re supposed to be making! If they wanted to dick around with keyboards then they could very easily do that without taking up my very valuable metal time... goddamn hacks!

*Ahem.* Sorry.

Anyway, back to the music… The second track is again, pretty standard stuff from the standpoint of atmospheric orthodox-gnostic clever-sounding word worship black metal. It’s pretty great, but there’s not that much that can be said about the track beyond “It’s pretty great.” In the third track, Lantern of Eden’s Night, this album begins to come into its own. From this point on, all the grating, screaming guitar riffs (which on occasion even sound like some sort of warped violin) get under your skin and dig into your fucking bones. The songs on this album go beyond merely ‘gripping’ the listener, and decidedly begin to envelop their entire world in the chaotic glory they create. I always begin listening to this album and think, “Hey, this really ain't so great, why do I like this so much?” and then by the last track (discussed below), I’m preparing one of my brother’s pets as a sacrifice to Nightbringer.

Curiously put into this album, are a couple of purely ambient/atmospheric keyboard sections. While I’ve previously ribbed upon these songs on the forums for being ‘ocean noises,’ they’re certainly interesting, and definitely add to the general ominous, ritualistic feel that Nightbringer manage to create more effectively than really anybody else.

The album ends with thirteen-minute epic, The Otherness of Being, which I think deserves special mention here. In terms of initial impressions, it was actually one of the few tracks I could really get behind; the way it builds into the triumphant vocal roar of, “Answer my call,” as a hypnotic and sinister guitar line builds in the background, before fading into feebly quiet rumbling (not used negatively) tells the listener that Nightbringer have truly said everything they want to with Ego Dominus Tuus, and manages to somehow close the album out in a glorious crescendo, without sacrificing any of the borderline-inhuman dirge that Nightbringer have built up over the course of their masterpiece.

In short: (for the borderline-illiterate MA users/those that just scanned to the end) Ego Dominus Tuus is an evil, experimental, and sometimes even beautiful album that digs into the coldest depths of what makes black metal great to spawn a masterpiece that deserves to be remembered by the ages, and heard by every fan of the genre. (Though it probably won’t be)

Recommended for: everybody with ears, a brain, the ability to produce endorphins upon hearing awesome stuff, and the ability to sit still and concentrate on something for longer than an hour.

Thanks for reading, archivers of metal. CardsOfWar out.