Nergal: Νύκτα γεμάτη θάματα - νύκτα σπαρμένη μάγια (2017)

Don't ask, I don't know. 

No, Nergal has nothing to do with the lead singer of Polish black metal legends Behemoth.  This Nergal is even better than that.  There are certain regional scenes that grab my attention right away due to past experiences.  Of course there is German thrash, Stockholm death metal, the Australian black/thrash/death metal bands.  And then there is one that has yet to steer me wrong.  That would be the Greek Hellenic black metal scene.  This is where Nergal fits in.  And as you will soon see, I went a bit nuts recently on this scene.

Nergal is not one of the more recognizable names in the Hellenic black metal scene.  They are not nearly as well known as groups like Rotting Christ, Thou Art Lord, Kawir or Varathron, among others.  But that does not mean they are not as impressive.  This was my first exposure to Nergal and I was quite taken with it.

The music has an epic feel to it, common for the scene.  It is filled with majestic, sweeping keyboard melodies and biting tremolo riffs.  Nergal is capable of some truly dynamic passages, slowing things down before having a riff come crashing through to mix things up.  Other times, they are fast and furious.  Most of all, the album has an eerie, occult sound to it, as if to listen to it is to summon a demon. 

I love the Hellenic black metal scene, and this album is a very good, if not quite classic, example of it.  I am just getting started on a new look at the scene.  The next few weeks will feature a number of Hellenic black metal releases.  I am getting off on the right foot.

Evil: ...To the Fallen and Free (2013)

The other day I was discussing bands with huge discographies during a post on Drowning the Light.  Evil is another such band that has released a massive number of albums, EPs, demos and splits onto the world, though they appear to have slowed way down and have not released anything since 2017.  I have not had a lot of exposure to the band yet and am still trying to decide if I will get into them heavily or not.  Most likely, the answer to that is a very strong no, due to the ideologies of the band. 

Evil is a Brazilian black metal band.  Brazil has a very rich metal history, particularly with regard to the more extreme genres.  Of course Sepultura and Sarcófago are the first couple of bands to come to people's minds when thinking of Brazilian metal, but the country was also the home of Vulcano, Sextrash and many others.  Evil has been going since the mid 1990's, but only vocalist/bassist Warlord remains from the original lineup, and he was the guitarist until switching to bass in 2016. 

This appears to be some manner of tribute to original drummer/singer Black Goat of Darkness (probably not his real name), who died in 2008 while in prison, as well as another individual.  I will not get into any other specifics involving Black Goat of Darkness, why he was in prison, etc.  Needless to say, he is not really any sort of a decent person.  I was not aware of the circumstances of this release when I purchased it or the ideologies of the band, other wise I honestly may not have purchased this release.  Huge disclaimer here that I absolutely do not condone anything that Black Goat of Darkness was involved in, and I do not agree with the ideology of the band either. 

Now that we have that out of the way, it is time to turn attention to the music.  This is an extremely dirty and grimy sounding EP from 2013.  A couple of the songs are re-recordings of the band's demo from 1994 and the others were tracks recorded in preparation for the recording of Ashes of Old, the band's 2015 album that is the most recent full-length the band has released.  The production quality of this EP is horrendous and muddy.  It is quite difficult to hear much of what is going on musically and the mix is such that the bottom end comes out kind of fuzzy and distorted.  That is kind of a shame, because I actually like most of the true songs on here.  It is very competent black metal with some great riffs and barbaric barking vocals. 

As I said, I am not likely to purchase anything else by this band due to their particular ideology (which I was unaware of prior to buying anything by them and I will note I bought the release secondhand from an online store, not from the label or band), and I will not discuss it here.  I am a metal fan first and foremost and will not turn this blog into any sort of a political discussion about what the band believes in, nor will I even mention what they are.  Suffice to say I do not agree with it, but I do like the music and I see nothing in the music itself that conveys the message I find repugnant.  So I will continue to listen to what I have here, but I will not be diving deeper into Evil's vast discography.