Artist: Nubivagant
Country: Italy
Label: Self-Released
Formats: Cassette Tape
Year: 2025
Just like the other releases of Nubivagant featured on these pages, I have filed this one under “Black Metal”. Yet, anyone familiar with the band knows that Nubivagant isn’t quite a Black Metal act in the most traditional sense of the word. Alright, the fast up-beat passages, both in drum rhythms and guitars, are definitely reminiscent of Black Metal’s archetypical ingredients. But it is the gloomy melodies and especially Omega’s androgyne vocals that makes it as much an Indie-affair as anything else. But, it is exactly that, which makes Nubivagant stand out in today’s Black Metal constellation.
All this is, of course, nothing new to the people who have heard this Italian’s previous material or read the older articles I’ve written on the band. Yet, having heard this live tape a couple of times and especially since running into the band in a live setting myself as well, it dawned to me even more that Nubivagant’s droning and doomy character takes an even bigger role on stage. Although I wasn’t able to catch the band with full attention, the incantatory atmosphere was definitely intense and – not surprisingly – not to everyone’s liking.
But, if you happen to have been enchanted by Nubivagant’s back catalogue of three full-length albums and a split 7” EP with Häxenzijrkell, this live tape, with a duration of about half an hour, is definitely worth checking out. It was recorded last year at House Of The Holy festival in Austria and it has a reasonably good sound, just lacking a bit of low-end rumblings, which makes it a thoroughly enjoyable tape. A cassette tape that, surprisingly, was released by the band itself in two runs of 150 professionally duplicated and hand-numbered copies in total, and gives you two songs of each of the first two albums (the third not being released at the time of the recording). The four tracks shows the band in optima forma, although the sound isn’t as punchy as the real performance must have been, but it flawlessly conveys the intensity of the show. Omega speaks of “a very memorable and special” night, and although I haven’t been there myself, I can only imagine how it must have been. At least Nubivagant at House Of The Holy open-air festival gives you another perspective of the Austrian Alps other than your typical ‘The Sound Of Music’ imagery.
