Nocturnal Frost

2015 has approached, and if you haven't started feeling the frigid weather yet, you can get the sensation of what its like by listening to the debut full-length album from French black metal group Noctem Cursis. Noctem Cursis play a very old-fashioned form of black metal, along the same lines as Satyricon, Immortal and Troll. But what all those bands have in common is that they're Norwegian and Noctem Cursis is from France. So this begs the question "Does Noctem Cursis measure up to these other legendary acts from Scandinavia?"

To some degree, the music does pull off a very cold and sharp tone. The vocals screech along support the uniform and tempered guitar riffing. Hollgarh, lead singer of the French black metal one-man band Belenos provides clean singing vocals on "Le Rivages de la Mort". But the mechanical sounds of the keyboards and drum machine are what really give the music a cold, distant and inhuman sound. I think if you're never heard the band Windir before this music will seem refreshing.

But this reviewer just so happens to be a huge fan of Windir. You may think that I could apply the same affection I keep for Windir to Noctem Cursis but before we make that assumption, let's talk about what makes, or should I say made, Windir so great. There doesn't seem to be a central mastermind in Noctem Cursis, someone who can play multiple instruments. That person for Windir was the late Valfar. Noctem Cursis on the other hand is made up of six people of whom none of them seem to be the core of the group.

Perhaps that is what, at the core, is dysfunctional about "Nocturnal Frost". There seems to be a collective decision between the band that they want play black metal but the character they represent isn't nearly detailed enough to show any sense of mystery or wickedness or Satanic allegiance. They really do not show much of any of the archetypical motifs aligned with black metal or the conscience of the group itself.

I think Noctem Cursis have the potential to navigate themselves out of the blizzards of mediocrity. This is only the beginning for them and we will see if this winter-worn metal has the temperament to last another year.

Originally published at Metal-Temple.com, 1-05-15.

As a black metal band, trying to make your mark in 2014 when releasing your debut album must be a pretty tough gig, but that’s exactly what Noctem Cursis are doing with ‘Nocturnal Frost’ here. There are of course multiple ways of making your mark, and this French six-piece (yep, none of your one man bedroom black metal here) go down the route of wearing their influences so vividly on their sleeves that they try to recall the horripilating, frosty spine-tingles you felt the first time you hear the classics of the genre.

Do they succeed? Occasionally. There’s a decent amount of ‘Stormblast’ era Dimmu Borgir in their sound thanks to their use of billowing cold keyboards, whilst never letting them overpower the riffage which is still clearly audible and at the forefront of their sound. The abundance of cold guitar arpeggios and minor key frostiness reminds me of ‘Shadowthrone’ era Satyricon and their moribund synth-work reminds me pleasantly of Gehenna’s early black metal coldness. The problem is, since I’ve named some of the luminaries of the scene right there –does it match the quality and consistency of the aforementioned bands and releases stroke for stroke? No, but then not a lot does these days when it comes down to it. ‘Nocturnal Frost’ is very much intent on pulling on those cold and frosty memories from the back of your head, hoping to tug at the right chord to really hit the jackpot. Everything seems to be present and correct, cold riffage which tweaks at progressiveness thanks to its epic nature, plentiful melodies throughout, throaty rasping vocals and sweeping synth – it’s just missing the x factor to really get the blood pumping and the hackles raised. In fact, I’d go as far as saying as it’s pretty painfully safe and generic at times unfortunately.

As an album, it’s packed with melody and is pretty commercial in black metal terms (particularly with the production with is actually fairly warm considering the coldness of the riffs). Whilst they never manage to ape the best, they certainly have made an enjoyable enough piece of work to keep any black metaller sucked in, even if they’re unlikely to return on a regular basis. Noctem Cursis are certainly a band to look out for come album number two, but they’ll never pull much further than a twinge of interest with ‘Nocturnal Frost’ from even the most vehemently inexorable imbiber of blackness.

Originally written for www.avenoctum.com