Review: Xavarthan - Night of the Nocturnal Rites

After 3 demos and a split CD with Vampyric Winter the Finnish one-man band Xavarthan has released their new 3 track EP „Night of the nocturnal rites“ via Bandcamp now and on MCD/Vinyl by Escafismo Records in the near future.

The EP starts off with bird calls and rain and thunder, which creates a dark atmosphere. Slowly a distorted melody emerges, then some war drums join. After a few seconds of silence, the first song „Revontulien valaisemana yönä“ thunders through the speakers like a storm. It is a fast black metal song with blast beats but also some mid-tempo parts. The vocals are rather mixed in the background, which fits the overall sound very well and has probably been done on purpose. It also includes some clean vocals and clean delayed guitar parts that create an epic folklore vibe.

„Towards death we shall ride“ is the second song, and it also starts similarly quickly but has a few interesting twists, like melodic guitar leads, clean parts and some ambient sounds.

The EP ends as it began. Bird calls and a melancholic guitar tune which is then joined by folklore guitars and drums, and then turns into a classic (black) metal song with an atmospheric touch including choirs and a calm ending.

The sound of the EP is also very atmospheric, in contrast to traditional raw black metal you can clearly hear all the instruments. The only point of criticism is that the bass guitar could be a bit more prominent in the mix.

All things considered, this is a very compelling EP from O.J / Anleifr, the mastermind behind Xavarthan, with a beautiful cover and a great logo by designer Halbeard. So, I’m really excited to see what the near future brings for Xavarthan.

BMZ Score: 7,5 / 10