NIGHTPRAY — Five Hours Before And Sometimes After (review)

NIGHTPRAY — Five Hours Before And Sometimes After album cover Album · 2008 · Avant-garde Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
pelmanism
More gothic than avant garde, this short album revolves around swathes of dark ambient keyboard sounds paired with quiet, ponderous guitars. There is a sense of foreboding throughout, only intensified by the snatches of heavily treated vocals which sound like the cries of someone lost inside a huge chasm. Virtually the whole album suggests itself as a possible soundtrack to Mervyn Peake's "Gormenghast" trilogy or some other similar literary work. As the debut release from the Romanian Asiluum Arts netlabel it also suggests that their other releases should be well worth checking out.

The majority of the tracks employ the same kind of instrumental template meaning that if you haven't fallen for Nightpray's sound by the time the opening "My Hours" is through then this album almost certainly isn't for you. However, for those listeners interested in dark ambient or gothic textures then it is a recording worth investigating. The band concentrate on creating a specific atmosphere and mood throughout and as such it is perhaps difficult to pick out individual highlights although "Photosynthetics" stood out on the first couple of listens.

This is a worthwhile discovery and I'm looking forward to hearing more Asiluum releases in due course.

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