Nazxul - Iconoclast

September 19, 2009

Reviewer: Kesh

If you like big, structured keyboards, gothic musical imagery and dark black metal themes; Nazxul’s the band for you. If you don’t like all that stuff, I’d still check them out if I were you. The guitar and drum work on the album is awe inspiring and their years of hard work show in their newest offering, Iconoclast. Dimmu Borgir is child’s play compared to Nazxul. Shaggrath and company need to beware, Nazxul is ready to pounce onto the waiting world. From the vocals of singer Luke Mills, to the beautifully arranged guitars of Greg Morelli, Lachlane Mitchell and Mitchell Keepin and keyboards (also by Lachlane Mitchell). This album is strong and melodic enough to rile up even the most docile of beasts. Occult themes are prevalent through out, and the fast pace of the songs make Nazxul feel like a much-needed breath of fresh air.

From the first opening intro, “Apoptosis”, to the last dwindling notes of “Threnody,” you get the sense that Iconoclast is a monster of an album, rife with melodic guitars, heavy symphonics and blasting drum elements. Song to song, the album blends, much like a symphony orchestra or one long recital piece, seductive to the ears and mind.

After I heard this album, I found myself not being able to listen to Dimmu Borgir without comparing them to Nazxul. While Norway based Dimmu is a very talented band, Nazxul far outclasses them in musicianship (the Norwegian boys are very talented, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that after listening to Iconoclast, I’m converted). What makes this album stand out is the seamlessness of it. If you put your player on shuffle, the album still sounds very well pieced together and at one with itself. Very few albums accomplish this, as it more owes to chance I think, but it is still an earmark for well written album - the “flow” of the album is not interrupted by being shuffled, and still makes you say “Wow.”

Track by track, Nazxul’s latest offering is epic in both structure and nature. Like a well-written Opera or movie soundtrack, Iconoclast seemingly takes the listener on a journey to places most normal people would never dare go. With five instrumental interludes - only one of which having a name, “Apoptosis,” a term which mean the programmed process of cell death in multi-cellular organisms - to the full out massacres dolled out with the songs “Iconoclast” and “Black Wings.” All the songs on the album are massive and powerful in their “noise terrorism” they are unleashing onto the world. But not every song on the track is a blasting hymn to death.

One song on the album I was not happy with was “Symbol of Night and Winter (Ancient Lords)." This is probably the one “bad” song on the album - and it’s not bad, per se, it’s just very muddy as far as the vocals and keyboards go and it makes it very hard to understand the lyrics. It’s a very well written song, but it lost something along the way. It starts very strong and doesn't stand out, as its own song. While it completes the rest of the puzzle the album offers, it doesn’t hold weight when standing alone

Then there is the song “Threnody,” that makes me wonder if it was written in homage to their late guitarist, Greg Morelli. It’s a very sorrowful; haunting track, all keyboards, no guitars, drums or vocals, and by the arrangement of the album, seems to close this chapter of the band’s history. The song then just comes to an abrupt end; much like life has a tendency to do. This is their eulogy for their fallen comrade. Weather the song is slow or fast, each and every track on this disk hold it’s own, making this album one of those you will be listening to for years to come.

I feel secure in saying that Nazxul - even with its cult status among Black Metal circles - is one of Australia’s best kept secrets, but with this album, the band is set to break through and dominate metal heads world wide. If a band ever deserved a nod from the so called “main-stream media,” it is Nazxul. There is only one word to describe this album, and the hard work that these gentlemen from Down Under have put in. That word is “epic.” A reflection on the shake-ups and trials this band has endured to release this album. From the seemingly mandatory, you’re not a true black metal band if you don’t have a revolving door of musicians wandering through the band, to the death of guitarist Greg Morelli late in 2008 and then finally the eleven-year process of actually recording and making the album. These Auzzie’s have paid their dues and now is their time to collect their reward. They are a manifestation of stamina and determination.

If you consider yourself a big fan of Dimmu Borgir, I suggest that you buy this album (if you can’t find it at your local shop, order it online), and see what the future holds for Black Metal as the second decade of the twenty-first century approaches. Nazxul is the crest of the new wave of extreme music that building world wide, a foreshadowing to what is possible in the coming years. This is an excellently constructed album that like a fine wine, took many years to make and mature, yielding a delightfully evil result.

Nazxul will make you say: “Dimmu Who?”

Release Date: July 28th, 2009
Label: Eisenton/ Moribund Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Apoptosis
2.  Dragon Dispitous
3.  III
4.  Black Wings
5.  V
6.  Iconoclast
7.  I
8.  Set in Array
9.  II
10.  Symbol of Night and Winter
       (Ancient Lords)
11.  Oath (Fides Resurrectio)
12.  Stain of Harrow
13.  World Oblivion
14.  Threnody

Total playing time: 56:08

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