Richard HolmesNadir – The Great Dying (Self-released)
From British Columbia’s Iskra to Edinburgh’s Scumpulse and Berlin’s Ancst, blackened hardcore has raged across the planet in the last two decades. And now, Nadir can add their name to the list of blackened HC’s most illustrious torch-bearers, such is the strength of their debut EP.
With The Great Dying, the Norwegian quartet have forged songs of serrated, hardcore steel from the molten black metal of their country’s past. The raw, crackling energy of Darkthrone or Gorgoroth pulses through The Wasteland Of Man, feeding its blastbeats and powering Ole Wik and Magnus Wiig’s lighting riffery, while on Tungetale Nadir marry the Nordic thrust of Immortal to urgent, intelligent hardcore a la Converge: it’s a potent brew.
However, The Great Dying’s peak is undoubtedly its towering title track: beginning with a rabid BM assault, the song deftly shifts down the gears to deliver a flurry of low slung riff punches… and then drifts into a melancholic sea of post rock melody. It’s a painstakingly crafted, beautifully sculpted piece of blackened art, which bodes very well for Nadir’s future efforts.
Nadir seem to have songwriting flair to burn, if The Great Dying is anything to go by. And their next instalment could be something very special indeed…
