Artist: Nidernes
Country: Portugal
Label: Dark Adversary Productions
Formats: CD
Year: 2025
Whether desired or not, Nidernes was part of the exploding (Raw) Black Metal scene of the late 2010s, in which his home country Portugal proved to be an important contributor. Yet, this one-man act has clearly been doing something different opposed to many of its contemporaries like Candelabrum, Black Cilice, Mons Veneris or Vetala. While clearly sounding raw, nothing Nidernes has ever done can reasonably be called Lo-Fi or otherwise harsh in nature. Still, from the band’s earliest demo, ‘Vengeance, Herald Of My Despite’, I have always regarded Nidernes as one of the pinnacles of contemporary Portuguese Black Metal.
It is exactly that first demo, originally released on the ultimate Danish cult Skjold label, that sees its reissue on this compilation CD. Now, anno 2025, this demo sounds still as vital and vibrant as it did when it was first released in 2018. To me this demo is basically the missing the link between the rawer Black Metal of their native Portugal and the somewhat dissonant variant of the genre that was popularized by the Norwegian Trondheim bands or the average band on the W.T.C. Productions label. The latter even feels more apt because of the harsh, slightly blaring vocals. Both those mild dissonant riffs and the rough vocals give the music a distinct sound of its own, rather unique and not only in their Lo-Fi dominated native scene.
This demos might have already been reissued and made widely available a few times already, it is definitely worth giving it yet another round. Especially through Azgorh’s (Drowning The Light) Dark Adversary Records as I feel this label covers some different ground as opposed to Black Gangrene Productions. Perverse Homage or the aforementioned Skjold.
The second part of the compilation is the recently released ‘Dusk Befalls Our Hearts’-EP, originally released on cassette tape by Black Gangrene Productions. This, however, is a completely different piece of music. With almost twenty minutes, it is not only much longer, but it is a solely keyboard-driven track that falls somewhere in between classic 90’s Dark Ambient and contemporary Dungeon Synth. Needless to say, this might not be to everybody’s liking. In case you prefer the band’s Black Metal side and you haven’t been able to get your hands on ‘Vengeance, Herald Of My Despite’ yet, this still is a great opportunity.
