Ethereal Tomb

To objectively asses this album one has to partially distance him/herself from the band’s previous instalments. Cause with the memories of these two masterpieces, particularly those of the monumental debut, flooding the fan’s mind it would be really hard for him/her to accurately evaluate the goings-on featured here… on the other hand, one also has to bear in mind the turbulent history behind it, the incendiary acrimonious circumstances under which the band members parted shortly after the sophomore’s release, the final result of this internal tussle leaving none other than the band founder Mike Browning out in the cold…

a sad story that couldn’t have possibly had a worthy follow-up music-wise although the remaining musicians pulled themselves together, and after a lengthy break voted to give the Nocturnus saga another go with the album reviewed here. With the guitar duo of Mike Davis and Sean McNenney firmly in place this should have been another thrilling ride all around, if not of the “The Key”’s gargantuan proportions, at least along the lines of the less exuberant, but still captivating enough soundscapes of “Thresholds”.

Well, “Thresholds” this isn’t as seven years down the line the band were simply not interested in pursuing the technical death meal idea either due to a lack of vigour and passion, or because of altered musical perceptions. Having written that, expect no timid surrender to the already fading at the time numetal trends as this is still a decent record, only that it shows the musicians in a different, much more restrained light. The keyboards are still here, if that could be some kind of consolation, and the new singer Emo Mowery does a good job with his intense throaty growl, coming close to the subdued, but effective performance of Browning on “The Key”. It almost sounds like a deal, and “Orbital Decay” doesn’t really disappoint its atmospheric mid-paced stride frequently carved by blazing guitar pyrotechnics; nothing overtly flashy or eye-opening, but it’s been a while since the guys’ last stint so there are no expectations for instantaneous fireworks of grandiosity of any kind from the get-go.

Yes, true, but after “Apostle of Evil” switches to a nearly sleep-inducing, quasi-doomy mode, with the few sparkles of technicality from the opener nearly gone, the listener will have no choice but to either adapt (or die) to this minimalistic introspective delivery, or just plain move onto something else entirely, especially when “Edge of Darkness” doesn’t do much to change the instilling monotony with its lyrical semi-balladic sprawls. “The Killing” at least promises something killing with the title, but music-wise this is the next in line hypnotizer of the DDD (dark doom deathly) variety that refuses to brighten up even for a split second. The overlong ambient intro of “Search for the Trident” could be considered another pullback, but right after the band brace themselves for some really effective technical shredding which livens the situation big time, and with the added twists and turns plus brilliant fretwork all over makes up for a really entertaining listen. “Paranormal States” loses the energy, but retains the technicality and increases the lead guitar exploits to prepare the setting for “The Science of Horror”, a formidable progressive steam-roller which even provides a couple of wild headbanging moments at some stage to everyone’s surprise. All quiet on the nocturnal front, though, with “Outland”, a balladic all-instrumental combination of virtuoso leads and operatic piano/organ-induced dramatism.

“Ethereal” not exactly; rather down-to-earth, downbeat and monolithic in its brooding seriousness, a not very optimistic aftermath from the mentioned generation… sorry, separation clash the guys obviously lacking the enthusiasm and the drive to beat their previous exploits. Not that that was possible in the first place, but still, the passion is simply not there the band’s musical proficiency alone elevating this opus slightly above the average status cause there’s really not that much more to tell/write about it. Even the keyboards’ presence is not that prominent, compared to the first two instalments, which should have by all means been the case with the newly epitomized, more doom-laden template that would have benefitted from a few lusher keyboard sweeps, like the works of early Therion, for instance, or two other similarly-styled sagas, the Swiss Babylon’ Sad’s “Kyrie” and the Austrians Korova’s “A Kiss in the Charnel Fields”, did.

The band invariably leave their signature on this last showing, not a single track can possibly suck with musicians of this calibre involved, but it’s a bit more than just that, the provision of the obligatory, not necessarily very inspired, epitaph of a not very long, but distinguished enough, career the guys only too well aware that another chapter from the Nocturnus saga was not very likely to occur… not in this particular configuration anyway as Browning has been making waves on the side, first under the Nocturnus AD moniker, and more recently as After Death this new/old cohort performing old Nocturnus (mostly from “The Key”) tracks the new material, reflected in a lengthy string of demos, more on the ordinary, standard side of the death metal roster, not having much in common with the band’s earlier, much more visionary approach.

Yes, the Nocturnus spirit refuses to lie dormant… tombs, cemeteries and graveyards are simply not intimidating enough to placate it and put it to rest. And, with consummate keymasters of the kind, how can you possibly keep them under lock and key somewhere deep underground?