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Strong German Newcomer ! - 91%
I just bought this digipak after I stumbled over the homepage and I do really like it. It is very limited (50 copies) and comes with an eight-sided booklet which includes the complete lyrics. The total playing time is more than 76 minutes and this special edition includes two bonus tracks.
To sum up the music, I would describe it as melodic but aggressive black metal, which is very straightforward and reminds me of some second wave black metal bands. Atmosphere is created with guitars, not with keyboards, and Strix Nebulosa uses several layers of guitars, which can be mentioned as a trademark that offers some fantastic melodies.
The music is very versatile and somehow every track has a certain progression, which makes some tracks great hymns in my opinion. The album offers aggressive and fast tracks like the title track "Argumentum Ad Populum", very straight-forward and stompy old school tracks like "Fuel for Your Fear" and almost epic arrangements like "Oh Master Cleanse Thy Impure Ground" or "Elite". All tracks are remarkable, well-arranged and well performed. I especially like the guitars, which have some great hooklines, are sometimes thrashy and even solos are used. I can only hear slight use of keyboards like choirs in some few parts.
Strix Nebulosa is a one-man-project, so electronic drums are used. They sound powerful and it is not obvious that the drums are synthetic. I think the artist spent a lot of time on programming the drums and fills. The lyrics are very aggressive and have to do a lot with pride. Strix Nebulosa does not cover typical black metal topics.
The album offers two bonus tracks. One is a cover version of a Sorcier Des Glaces track, which sounds great to me and the second track "In Hate I Rise" is a preview of the follow-up album and is without doubt one of the highlights of this album.
The album got some great reviews so far, which is understandable for me. I would describe Strix Nebulosa as a very strong German newcomer and this album is one of the highlights of the last year for me!
