On their major debut Nihilistic Stench, Nadiwrath offer a vigour 50-minute piece of thrashing black metal with a very occasional touch of depression. Actually, just forget that part about depression for now, as Nihilistic Stench is first and foremost an aggressive output with upbeat power chord riffs, simple yet effective battering and high-pitched black metal screams. This all is packed into a tight, full production where all the instruments are nicely audible, including bass. The album is sound-wise very well done.
As can be deduced, the focus is on the old school ”fuck you” attitude reminiscent of Carpathian Forest’s later works, as such track titles as ”Two Face Shit Fuckers” and ”Another Pimping Whore” suggest. While the band is generally authentic and plays tightly, I can’t help feeling that all the cursing and daring of the vocalist Wrath is a bit overdone and, in turn, does not sound quite convincing and makes it sound tongue-in-cheek: especially in comparison to the more somber material on the album. Speaking of which, Nadiwrath sounds the best on the 10-minute ending track ”Memories Are Dead”, an impressive mid-tempo wandering that almost sounds like a different band. Of all the power chord assault tracks on the album, ”Horns” does it the best with the intimidating, repetitive riff towards the end.
Looking for some ass kicking, almost punky black metal with real energy? Then do yourself a favour and look into Nihilistic Stench, a decent record that is not entirely for my taste but certainly has its moments of splendour. This one might divide the listener base a bit, considering how radically the style changes on the last track, but I guess the old school thrashers know how to press stop when that track begins and enjoy the merciless killing that Nihilistic Stench otherwise delivers.
2,5 / 5
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