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NIGHTBEARER
Stories From Beyond EP

Unholy Fire (2018)
Rating: 6.5/10

North Rhine-Westphalia is the German region that has given birth to Nightbearer and their debut EP. A quintet of songs are offered in a style that can best be described as Swedish-tinged German death metal, so be sure not to confuse these guys with the watery metalcore act of the same name.

The duo – Nightbearer being the work of Michael Torka and his buddy Dominik Hellmuth – bring forth deep, gurgling vocal spouts, heavy, yet catchy and often mid-tempo gleams within the rhythm section, and fast spurts of aggression which remain loose and certainly very lethal. Stories From Beyond is an extremely accessible opus, particularly with the slower and well-oiled pensive parts, but there’s nothing original about said design.

We get black / death flurries to the maximum and slower, rolling riffage. This is nowhere more evident than on ‘Ferocious Sorcery’, which is my favourite expression; an at times hammering offering with stark melody and thrashing grooves, the combination of black metal streaks with a classic style of early to mid-90s construction within ‘Ferocious Sorcery’ is appealing if somewhat uneventful. However, I remain onboard for the raging seas of opener ‘Wicked Signs And Symbols’, which boasts very Swedish segments of black ‘n’ roll propensity, while ‘World To A Pyre’ also showcases a more angular rhythm strut before the unleashing of extreme bouts of energy.

The constant mixture of styles give the opus an edge; even if there’s an all-too familiar air coating the whole scenario, it’s still frothing death metal that brings doomier, lumbering hikes, as with the opening chords and bellows of ‘Voracious And Grim’. Closer ‘Entranced By Blackest Rites’ , meanwhile, initially opts again for angular black metal threads before embarking on that now rather generic yet frothing pace.

The commitment of the duo involved cannot be questioned, but only in flashes does this seething EP really dig deep into the listener. Every other time, it just remains a solid death metal experience of genuine fluidity, but somehow missing vital ingredients in maybe that it’s not sure what it wants to be. Of course, this is a new act and I’m sure that by the time a full-length outing is offered, we’ll be singing their praises more so. For now though, Stories From Beyond, even with its gnashing power and flits into other styles, still seems rather mundane, but more so searching as it one moment thrashes and the next strikes with a death metal canon.

The old school flavours aren’t exactly in fruition and the more modern dynamics emerge in fits and starts. In that sense, the EP is a tad uneven, resulting in an equally jagged rating.

Neil Arnold

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