On ne frappe pas un homme à terre : c'est ce que dit la règle mais NONE a déjà prouvé qu'il ne les suivait pas et si son album éponyme retirait toute perspective de béatitude spirituelle, Life has gone on long enough, son deuxième opus, nous interdit l'accès au bonheur terrestre. La vie n'a aucune substance et la production plus distante le confirme. Le DSBM s'empare de textures sonores blues, mettant en relief une dépression urbaine. Les cris partent en fumées : ne restent que les pleurs... Jordan Vauvert
For those of use whose attention span isn't what it was for ambient and who need something more narrative than noise, there is the sub-genre of atmospheric black metal that I'm inclined to call "monolithic". Paysage d'Hiver might be the archetypal example. But if you just want to be consumed by a relentless wall of beautiful air pressure, this is ideal. Luke
Opening with Abbey Lincoln's definitive rendition of unreleased Billie Holiday song, Left Alone (natch), you have to admire the confidence of any musician to riff over what was originally a Max Roach / Art Davis rhythm section and iconic Coleman Hawkins sax solo – let alone in infamously fudging-the-details DSBM. But such is the ambition (or youthful naïveté) on this masterwork of slow burning late nite metal. Grand, solemn, and astounding throughout. Not to be missed by early Sadness fans. Luke
I have already talked about my love for Asunojokei, but it is still as strong. The screaming and whining on this album is especially good, Asunojokei continues to impress me. egomelancholy
After listening to Ysyry Mollvün, listening to Downfall of Nur was urgent and turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made in quite some time: Umbras de Barbagia is simply magisterial; the atmosphere can hardly be compared to anything else. There is a deep, palpable connection to nature imbueing each very fibre of this record. The amalgamation of black metal and folk elements is done with a high intuition for detail and class, resulting in a highly immersive experience. Wonderful. David Fischer