Artist: Nocturnal Deviancy / Drowning The Light
Country: USA / Australia
Label: Dark Adversary Productions
Formats: Split CD
Year: 2024
Besides Drowning The Light’s split CD with Azgorh’s own Harvest, there’s also this split release with Nocturnal Deviancy. Although Azgorh himself is not involved in Nocturnal Deviancy, the American one-man band share the same label: Dark Adversary, run by none other than… Azgorh. Well, to cut a few things short here, this split release is as much a blood brother-like release as the one with Harvest. And not only because of their personal and personnel ties, but it is mainly on the level of musical visions that both bands are closely related.
Nocturnal Deviancy already convinced me with the split cassette tape with Chasmic Filth (Ancient Horror Records) and the ‘Eternity’s Cold Embrace’ EP (Dark Adversary Productions) from earlier this year. Vollmond, the lost soul behind Nocturnal Deviancy is definitely a man who knows his craft. From the abyssally sad sounding piano intro to the expertly executed melancholic Black Metal, it all breathes the same versatility within the rather narrow musical framework. While the parallels with bands like Satanic Warmaster or Moonblood are quite easy to draw, it wouldn’t do Nocturnal Deviancy any justice. But it is the fairly simple drums that complement the grand and epic sounding melodic riffs and Vollmond’s raspy vocals. Just as he was able to impress me with his first two releases (and with his other band, Feeble Deity, for that matter), he does so again now. And to complete the fun, Vollmond also comes out with a new, short 3-track demo almost simultaneously with this split CD.
Drowning The Light is closing this short split CD (clocking well under 18 minutes) with a very recognizable tracks that breathes the very same atmosphere as most of the recordings from the past, say, four or five years. Which means it is keyboard-heavy, humming along with the song’s riffs and melodies, forming a very coherent and homogeneous whole. It is as melancholic as ever, yet with its strong keyboard role the music is, again, more mellow in nature. It fits perfectly to the split CD with Harvest as well as the majority of the other recent offerings. So, people who embraced the “new” Drowning The Light can indulge themselves in another serving of utterly melancholic, raw yet atmospheric Black Metal. And, as Nocturnal Deviancy opened the dance so impressively with its piano composition, Drowning The Light closes the festivities with a dreamlike Dungeon Synth outro.
In short, ‘Reawakened Truth From Shadow Realms…’ is a short but sweet release for anyone who have fallen for the mellower side of Drowning The Light. The American split partner might be quite bit more fierce and fiery in nature, both bands proved that they are a perfectly matched couple.
