ZERVM: "Nex Cvltvs"

I remember obtaining Zervm's 2008 demo tape Nihil Morte Certivm from a distro for two euros or so, and how happy was I for getting such a score. Not that it would have been a truly awesome hidden gem from the underground, but in comparison to how cheap it was, I enjoyed spinning it surprisingly often. A little bit deranged, filthy black metal was Zervm's style back then, and it's not much unlike their offerings on the brand new album Nex Cvltvs.

Simply put, Zervm here is somewhat murky power chord firing with ominous twists, i.e. the rather traditional ravaging riffs sometimes diverge into atonal notes. Barbaric drumming backs this up, and on top of all are the leprous snarls of the vocalist, half-spoken, or more like uttered. This is the paradigm under which the band plays through the whole album without any alterations really, but luckily it tastes pretty good: these seven horrid spells are all effective. However, in the big picture, they tend to resemble each other a bit too much. In the course of listening throughout the album, and I've done it maybe six times now, my mind starts wondering off always at some point, and then I need to skip back a few tracks to the moment when my mind departed.

The stripped production and overall style resemble that of Hrizg's latest offerings Anthems to Decrepitude and Inferno, so if those appeal to you, so should Nex Cvltvs. The atmosphere is pretty damn well accomplished here, both suffocating and somehow cavernous, but song-wise I would have liked to hear some more variation, I guess. The basic elements are handled like they should be, meaning that there's nothing wrong with the instrumentation nor sound, but I still find it lacking something that would raise it higher than many others in the field.

3 / 5