After an abounding exposure to profound
and philosophic Finnish black metal of late, such as the Saturnian
Mist debut Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan and Rahu's The Quest for the Vajra of
Shadows, it is nice to return to a rather earthly and national take
on black metal in the form of Nattfog's first full-length Mustan
Auringon Riitti (”Rite of the Black Sun”). The very first seconds
into the introductory ”Blindig Fog” reveal a folkish atmosphere
akin to Drudkh, as a melodic yet distorted pattern is vividly played
on top of a tom drum and a tambourine. When it all fades out, the
sounds of rain appear along with distant howling, foreshadowing the
actual black metal content of the album that shows its face soon
after.
The music does not play with tricks and
twists: mostly mid-tempo beats back up the riffs fluctuating, or
balancing, between nostalgic sorrow and hate. This is very well
described in the promo letter accompanying the album, as it reads:
'Mustan Auringon Riitti is full of melancholic soundscapes but with a
strong sense of proud warspirit, much like is the nature of a typical
Finnish man'. Considering this statement, it comes as no surprise
that Nattfog's sound here can be linked to their native counterparts
Sargeist, Satanic Warmaster, Horna and Goatmoon, among many others
that share the similarities both in their musical and lyrical content:
the occult aspect becomes very clear on a track like the eponymous
”Mustan Auringon Riitti” that very elaborately depicts the
process of a ritual, or on ”Mieleni Mustissa Merissä” (”In the
Black Seas of My Mind”) that has a very cosmic, metaphysical
approach to it. The national side, then, is apparent on tracks like
”Path of the White Wolves” of which title gives a hint already.
Back to the audial content, one should
not indeed expect any moments of utter amazement: the album contains
equally strong material throughout its six black metal tracks,
concluding in the 8-minute Burzumish synth ambient piece ”Kaksitoista
Askelta Luvattuun Valtakuntaan”. Similar inclusions of ambient
appear on the black metal as well: the soothing, ethereal keys on top
of the metal instrumention on ”Kosmisen Usvan Ympäröimänä”
work to great extents. It is to be remembered that when I say there's
no proper moments of astonishment on the album, it doesn't mean I
wouldn't regard Mustan Auringon Riitti a truly successful and durable
experience. I've had the album in regular rotation for many weeks and
I don't seem to get enough of it even by now: it is a consistent
record to which is always safe to return. Hence it is easy to give
recommendations for the album, especially if you are as fond as I am
of the similar Finnish groups mentioned earlier.
4 / 5
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