Time Signature There is no light...

Genre: punk black metal

Punk and black metal is not a new or unique combination. In fact, some of the very first black metal bands, like Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, had plenty of punk elements to their music, and the legends in Darkthrone have been experimenting with punk elements in the last couple of years, while their fellow countrymen in Kvelertak have made their own high octane blend of rock 'n' roll, black metal and punk rock.

So, Nadiwrath are not innovating a new style - they are carrying on an already existing tradition.

The question is, do they do it well?

My answer is, yes, I think they make a quite good job of it.

The music is primarily raw and energetic with simple punky and thrashy riffs combined with more traditional black metal tremolo riffs and blastbeats. Most of the tracks are very well balanced in terms of the weighing of black metal and punk, and I particularly like how Nadiwrath suddenly jump into furious tremolo-and-blastbeat black metal passage from angry uptempo punk passages, and how they seamlessly move between the different stylistic elements.

Contrary to what one might expect, the production is not lo-fi or unlistenable at all. In fact, it is actually quite well defined, but without being too polished. As a matter of fact, it suits the raw, energetic music quite well.

The surprise of the album has to be the almost ten minutes long closing track "Memories Are Dead", which contains several melodic passage and darkly melancholic riffage combined with more traditional black metal blastbeats - and I can imagine that this track, along with "There Is No Light" and perhaps "Two Face Shit Fuckers", will probably appeal more to fans of pure black metal than the rest of the tracks on the album.

Like some of my fellow reviewers, I find that the screamed vocals end up being kind of annoying, and so does the overuse of the phrase "fuck you". I mean, we get it - the band has a fuck you attitude; they do not have to spell it out.

Apart from that, I think that this release belongs among the finest punk-metal release of the year; it is raw, energetic, dark and is destined to kick your ass... fuck you!

Vehemency On their major debut Nihilistic Stench, Nadiwrath offer a vigour 50-minute piece of thrashing black metal with a very occasional touch of depression. Actually, just forget that part about depression for now, as Nihilistic Stench is first and foremost an aggressive output with upbeat power chord riffs, simple yet effective battering and high-pitched black metal screams. This all is packed into a tight, full production where all the instruments are nicely audible, including bass. The album is sound-wise very well done.

As can be deduced, the focus is on the old school ”fuck you” attitude reminiscent of Carpathian Forest’s later works, as such track titles as ”Two Face Shit Fuckers” and ”Another Pimping Whore” suggest. While the band is generally authentic and plays tightly, I can’t help feeling that all the cursing and daring of the vocalist Wrath is a bit overdone and, in turn, does not sound quite convincing and makes it sound tongue-in-cheek: especially in comparison to the more somber material on the album. Speaking of which, Nadiwrath sounds the best on the 10-minute ending track ”Memories Are Dead”, an impressive mid-tempo wandering that almost sounds like a different band. Of all the power chord assault tracks on the album, ”Horns” does it the best with the intimidating, repetitive riff towards the end.

Looking for some ass kicking, almost punky black metal with real energy? Then do yourself a favour and look into Nihilistic Stench, a decent record that is not entirely for my taste but certainly has its moments of splendour. This one might divide the listener base a bit, considering how radically the style changes on the last track, but I guess the old school thrashers know how to press stop when that track begins and enjoy the merciless killing that Nihilistic Stench otherwise delivers.