Funeral Pyre

I've heard many demos and premature material in my time of listening to extreme metal. Some are cringeworthy, some are actually good. Nyarlathotep has interesting ideas and motivation to record. Though, they lack in some serious departments a band needs to be successful. Mainly, the writing, recording, and utilization of instruments.

My first impression of Nyarlathotep was a bit shaky after the really obnoxious static blarred through my headphones in the beginning. Though, onwards in the song I noticed that there was a nice blend of dark riffs and keys.The first two songs really set up some nice atmosphere. Every now and then, the drums would pierce through the mix and give you a few nice fills and blasts. Though, sadly I don't have much to report on the positive side of this album. As each song went on, I noticed more and more massive faults that needed to be addressed before this was pressed in any way shape or form.

Aside from the opening two tracks, this ep is malnourished. First off, the writing and instrument untilization. I'm all for minimalism, as I'm a huge fan of Hellhammer and the likes. Though, there comes a point where it's too unconstructed. Nyarlathotep is a good example of minimalism pushed to its limits. The guitar writing consists of basic power chords which wouldn't be so bad if they had an ounce of power. The drum work is pretty good in the opening two track, but then in the rest of the album it sounds blatantly bad. A mentionable track would be 'Throne Ov Blood pt. I", where the ride cymbol if blasted through most of the song (which sounds overly annoying) and then the rest of the drumset is pushed way too far back in the mix. There's no bass within the music, which is a musical turn-ff in this case, since there is a lacking in the heaviness department. Lastly, the vocals. It's hard for me to justify the quality of them because they are pushed so far back in the mix they are almost inaudible. From the tidbits that I can hear, I'd probably like them.

I've noticed throughout the time that I've written reviews on the Metal-Archives, people become angry when they see their release has gotten a score that isn't where they want it to be. I'd rather see people take a review for what it's worth and use it to make even better music the next go around. Nyarlathotep can easily pump out something much better if they take the time to fix a few things. I mean, a little cleaner production and a pedal for the guitar amp would get them a long ways. I'll be keeping my eye out for the next Nyarlathotep release, let's hope for the best!