Artist: Nahtrunar
Country: Austria
Label: Altare Productions
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2026
With focus and determination, Nahtrunar has been building an impressive discography. One that started with arguably their best work, the cold and atmospheric ‘Symbolismus’ in 2015, the journey has taken us through some slight shifts in accents and dynamics in the albums since, ultimately leading to 2024’s ‘Hrima’. That album was easily their most ambitious work, a 15-song journey that not only expanded on the band’s atmospheric Black Metal, but featured elaborate Ambient tracks as well. Like clockwork, the band returns two years later with ‘Sphären’, a record with a clearly different tone than its predecessor.
‘Sphären’ is more concise album, rawer in sound, more militant in the drums with an altogether colder atmosphere. Musically, the material leans heavily on 90’s Norwegian Black metal of the likes of the earliest works of Enslaved, Emperor, Satyricon and Darkthrone, with a biting icy aura supplemented with light Pagan touches. An altogether more urgent record, the atmosphere is embellished by light floating keyboards but in particular by mesmerizing weeping guitar melodies. Though often simple in design, they elevate the latest album of Nathrunar to exquisite levels.
Howling are the vocals and melodies in ‘Kreuz Isa’, a song full of drive, covered in a guitar sound reminiscent of earlier Darkthrone records. The contrasting melodies add melancholy, while the cosmic keys add a slight sense of color in the otherwise bleak soundscape. In particular the end, with escalating vocals and an entrancing lead is of exceptional quality. ‘Ymirs Profetischer Traum’ is equally beautiful, a more escalating song with galloping drums and riffs that remind strongly of Emperor. ‘In Glinsterne Fäden Verwoben’ is a more urgent track, where the rising melodies contain a more epic character. The following ‘Das Astrale Verlies’ starts off in fierce Mayhemic fashion, but in the guitars one can certainly argue a sense of Satanic Wasmaster’s riffing excellence. Adorned with violins, flutes and clean strumming guitars, the track develops a beautiful mournful spirit as a deceptively simple melodic lead takes command. Acoustics carry over in to ‘Die Einsamkeit des Lichts’ and remain a red thread throughout the song, although it’s the pummeling drive and the breathtaking howling leads that truly steal the show. Here, the keyboards are slightly more on the center stage to, providing both guidance and a rather beautiful apotheosis to the song. The album ends with ‘Die Schatten werden Lang’, a track filled with echoing melodies and escalations of pace. With swirling keyboards and recitation of the song title, the song ends in a hauntingly beautiful manner and perfectly represents the splendid accomplishment that Nathrunar has achieved with ‘Sphären’.
Very few Black Metal bands manage to consistently impress me with each new output. But Nahtrunar not only pulls that off, on ‘Sphären’ they also exceed all my expectations. The marriage of cutting shrieks and deranged cries with piercing riffs and the melancholic howling of the guitar gives an entrancing cold and weeping atmosphere to the record. As great as their entire discography is, it always felt as if the debut ‘Symbolismus’ was unsurpassable. But with ‘Sphären’ I feel as if they have really outdone themselves. Cold, intense and beautiful Black Metal, deeply rooted in the atmosphere of the 90’s, this is a simply exceptional record.
