XASTHUR
'Nightmares
At Dawn'
(Lo-Fi
Creatures / Avantgarde Music)
Hearing
this album the problem that I faced was how to deal with it: as a fan
of Xasthur
or as a fan of the DSBM and ambient sound? As a fan of Xasthur,
this compilation gives a clear and complete picture of the one-man
band’s history in the black metal scene, creating a depressive
world. The songs depict Malefic’s way from the pure suicidal sound
towards more ambient songs; thus this album cannot be easily heard.
As a fan of BSBM and ambient black metal, this compilation is rather
disappointing. On the one hand there are atmospheric songs, creating
an absolutely horror and haunting scene, helping the listener to
seek, find and reveal one’s dark feelings and emotions, with clear,
amazing, and full of sickness vocalist moments, as in the case of
‘Losing Hand/Redemption’, ‘Society wants to Die’ and of
course the title track. On the other hand, however, there are boring
and monotonous songs, with no alterations in their style, where the
vocals remind a man forgotten in a well, since the sound is like tape
recorded in the early 1980s, such as ‘Degenerate Uprising’ and
‘Human Flotsam’. The re-recordings of ‘Suicide In Dark
Serenity’, ‘Prison Of Mirrors’ and ‘Screaming At Forgotten
Fears’ have not anything new to say to the listeners, whereas the
cover of Black Sabbath’s
‘A National Acrobat’ is indifferent. . A quick note for the fans:
‘Nightmares At Dawn’
will be released in a digipack edition limited to only 100 copies,
which will come along with a T-shirt, where the normal edition will
be released in a jewelcase. As a result of the above, there will be
two grades: the first as a fan of the band and the second as a fan of
the DSBM and ambient black metal scene. Rating: 8/10
and 6/10
(leniently)
(Dark Alice's nightingale)
(This compilation album of odds and ends is allegedly Xasthur's posthumous swansong - ED)
