Nyseius - Militiae Review

Nyseius - Militiae
Full-length, ATMF, April 2010

Orthodox black metal is something that is admittedly loved or hated, depending on who you ask. One of the biggest failures with the genre is so many of the bands end up sounding alike. Loads of blasting, spiked with vile lyrical vomiting about Satan, mysticism, war, etc. There is a great deal of orthodox black metal bands sprouting up all over the world these days. I blame it on bands like Dark Funeral, Marduk, Funeral Mist and the like.

Here we have Nyseius, a four-piece orthodox black metal band from France. Their debut album 'Militiae', is a harsh lesson in brutal and unforgiving satanic black metal. Loaded with blast beats, grimly croaked mid-range vocals and icy cold guitar riffs, Nyseius are not exactly reinventing the black wheel. My first impression of this album was 'Oh look, a Dark Funeral worship band...', but the more I listened, the more I found an almost avant-garde approach to their orthodoxy. The bulk of this album is dissonant and writhing in black blood, but there are a few moments when the chaos dissipates, making room for frightening clean guitar breaks and choral-esque keyboard flourishes. But do not kid yourself, these breaks in momentum are short-lived before the blasting flame re-ignites and you are trampled under cloven hoof. There is no question the main focus of this album is to spew the blackest and most hateful energy possible. Leaving little to no alleviation for the listener.

A super clean production is found on this album; guitars are reduced to an icy tremolo picked blur, drums are clear/loud but do not sound overly-triggered, the vocals have a pinch of reverb to add atmosphere and the bass is mostly buried in the mix. This production reminds me of the kind used on the first Dark Funeral album mostly.

Looking for something groundbreaking and new? You will not find it here, but if you are looking for a smothering, hate filled, chaotic blast of orthodox black metal, this is your weapon to pick. Nyseius have created a 35-minute album of nuclear black energy, destined to rip your face off and drag you to the depths of hell.

Reviewed by E. - 7/10