Nostalgie

Here we have a 2 song EP by the black metal band Trist. Yes, two songs that are around the same runtime, sound almost the same, and have the same name, save for the I and the II to distinguish them from each other. Within these two songs, you hear fuzzed out, reverberated guitar, with riffs that repeat themselves into oblivion, very simple repetitive drumming, and the occasional distant black metal shriek. It sounds like a pretty boring affair, or at least something that could of used a little more variety. However, on the contrary, the repetitiveness is a huge strong suit for this EP.

When you put this on and actually want to focus your attention on the songs, you almost immediately become entranced in the music. Listening to this is similar to listening to Paysage d' Hiver, where the minimalism creates a thick atmosphere you don't want to get out of. The overdriven guitar riffs seamlessly blend together, going from simple chord progression to simple chord progression and back again. Hearing the same riffs over and over for over six minutes per song seems like it would bore you to tears, but really, the repeating, ethereal sounding guitar is what keeps you immersed in the music. The drums keep everything going steady, only once in awhile hitting a crash cymbal or going into a small simple fill as the next riffs is played. There are no blast beats on this album, and i'm glad there aren't. The constant steady beat of the drums is good enough, and a blast beat would sound out of place on a slow, minimalist album like this. On occasion, you can hear the distant vocals, which actually do sound like they are coming in from far away, like you're in the landscape that's on the album cover, and the vocalist is shrieking way out in the distance by the horizon. The vocals, as sparse as they are, are well done and add to the atmosphere the music creates.

This is the kind of black metal you can rest and relax to. Its production is not abrasive at all, and is very easy on the ears. There is great drum clarity, and the only fuzziness is from that of the guitar tone, which I think is the perfect guitar tone for this kind of black metal. Reverberated and overdriven to the point where the riffs seem to blend together into a pleasant wall of ethereal sound. For someone wanting relaxing black metal, or something just to get you away from the world for awhile, i highly recommend this short, but great atmosphericl release.