Nidsang

The Mark of Death

Drakkar Productions 2007

Drakkar Productions has a long history of signing high quality black metal bands and Sweden's Nidsang is no exception to this trend.  Their debut album is an exercise in raw black metal fraught with pride and confidence and a strong anti-xtian dogma.  They are not breaking any new ground on The Mark of Death but when the material is as convincing in its own right this is not an issue but rather a strength.  Each song crashes forth and froths with rabid abandon characterized by a primeval darkness that infests artists who breed evil in their hearts.  Filling the Chambers epitomizes Nidsang's approach with blistering drumming surrounded in a fog of guitars with a slicing main melody cutting through the dank atmosphere that has swallowed this album.  Nidsang is talented in their diplomatic use of samples such as the chilling vocal choir that marks the arrival of Dawn of the New Era.   Whereas the sample of the little girl saying She denies Jesus Christ in the title track is a stroke of genius punctuating the calm before the storm.  Atra Mors brings a healthy dose of primitive melody straining against the wall of guitar fuzz as it smoothly soars over furious drumming.  Though it contains melody throughout the album's breadth, Nidsang have very little in common with countrymates Dissection and their ilk.  At least in the sense of how they use their melodic inclinations.  It serves more as a way to accentuate the rawness and primitiveness of their music rather than as the overriding definition of their sound.  Also the modest use of keyboard in Whither and Die towards its end proves to be a very haunting end to a powerfully primal album.  Amducious utters ghastly rasping vocals that suit the music perfectly.  Nidsang deliver solid, no-frills primitive black metal with a strength and conviction that the Swedish scene has become known for.  Fans of Svartsyn and Funeral Mist should take heed.