Artist: Nachtgnawer
Country: Finland
Label: Purity Through Fire
Formats: CD EP
Year: 2026
Nachtgnawer managed to heavily impress me so far, both with their ‘Eternal Curse of the Blood’ Demo and ‘Unholy Vampyric Supremacy’ collaboration EP with Wulfseer. There are boundless numbers of raw and melancholic Black Metal bands from Finland yet the band impressed with an off-the-beaten-path feel for riffs and excellent sense of musicality while retaining that gnarly character. So needless to say, the coming of a new EP titled ‘Medieval Devourer’ was nothing but good news to my ears.
And let’s cut right to the chase: Nachtgnawer is the real deal. Delightfully snarling sharp vocals that pull to extremeties, riffs that blend old Gorgoroth, Darkthrone and Satanic Warmaster, and a melodiousness that touches that of Heavy Metal, this is Black Metal of exceptional quality. Raw, rocking, malicious and melancholic, the riffs are the driving force of the band but the vocals are equally of the utmost quality. ‘Medieval Devourer’ starts off with a piercing shriek, leading through meandering melancholy with a slight underlying atonality. With rattling drums, the band employs mostly a high tempo, but it doesn’t distract from the melodious nature. While Black Metal certainly doesn’t need perfect instrumental execution, Nachtgnawer’s musicians certainly know their craft, with excellent tapping riffs, proper solos and creative drum fills. ‘Seigneur of the Iron Winds’ brims with aggression, merciless drums and passionate vocals, before samples of sword fights and neighing horses join the galloping tempos. The drive in this track is excellent, having both a gnarly and melancholic character combined. That the band does not shy away from cosmic synthesizers is shown once again in the bridging Ambient instrumental ‘Process of Possession’, to me a prime example of how Ambient soundcapes can elevate a recording. Synthesizers also are employed in an ultra-catchy manner in ‘Stench of the Ancient Towers’, a song that carefully weaves Heavy Metal riffs with intriguing percussion and excellent musicality into fierce and melancholic Black Metal. Similarly, ‘Desecrator’ has the piercing intensity of Black Metal with twin heavy Metal riffs, a clash of worlds that feels seamless.
‘Medieval Devourer’ is a perfect example of Black Metal that can be both raw, but also musical and melancholic. To me this is the sort of gem that makes it all worth digging through countless of Black Metal releases that are thrown at our feet these days. The only drawback? That none of Nachtgnawer’s recordings have been released on vinyl.
