Nyseius

Militiae

ATMF 2010

Taking a more traditional and inherently brutal approach to black metal than many of their countrymen, France's Nyseius launch a war of aura desecration upon your ears with their debut album, Militiae.  After a rather muted and pointless intro, the title-track kicks in like a blizzard of ferocious black metal which streams from the speakers like a flamethrower, mixing and melding influences from Emperor, Marduk, and even a little Mayhem.  A strong point of Nyseius is their tempo transitions, such as the speed increase at the 1:56 mark of Militiae.  Dark melodies add to the atmosphere as the song progresses through its constantly shifting eight minute length.  Les Symboles De La Catharsis gathers strength with cold passages before exploding into a rapid-fire drum assault which folds in on itself for some icy melodic guitarwork.  The drumming constantly throttles its tempo up and down yet retains a sense of fluidity.  Lueur D'une Lune Morte spills out Nordic riffing like blood from a gaping wound and speaks to the orthodoxy of style that Nyseius are advocates for.  Melodies are fused against Marduk-ish speed for a relentless assault.  That is until around the 4 and a half minute mark, the track slows down to a glacial pace for an infusion of atmosphere.  Endless March doesn't deviate from this crushing formula of speed accented by icy melodicism.  Essentially this album is 4 full-on black metal tracks and an intro and outro.  The production on this album is powerful and full and Daeloth's vocals sound like a knife being sharpened.  Though strongly played and drawing elements from more well established acts, Nyseius finds themselves residing in the middle ground of the black metal scene.  Their music is solid but in the end doesn't do a lot to separate itself from the rest of the underground.