The prolific Nihil Invocation provides his fourth full length album earlier this year The Chaos of Our Lost and Evil Souls. His simplistic yet nihilistic approach to black metal has grown on me since his last release and previous review where I was first introduced to his sound. After going over his rather extensive backlog of EPs and demos much of the sound grew on me and I feel as though with this latest release I hear a huge progression forward in terms of songwriting, more diverse riffs and more emphasis on melodic drumming and guitar riffs really help make this album more unique and rather charming.
If I could describe Nihil Invocation in a rather simplistic way, I’d say its a slowed down version of Judas Iscariot with less pronounced vocals. But there’s more than meets the eye here. There’s a style here that I don’t think could work if anyone else were to do it. If say someone where to try and mirror this sound, it come off as forced and simply amateurish. This feels as though this came naturally to Deathwalker, the sole member of the band. Tortured and morbid ideas of anti-cosmic astral paganism wrapped within a gritty and raw sound that really captures the imagination and atmosphere unlike any of his previous releases. There’s something about the more melodic and more ritualistic approach to this album really provides a very authentic atmosphere. Especially on the eighth track Endless Fire Grace My Sanctum. The hypnotic guitar riffs and almost psychedelic riff in over the supporting guitars have a very mesmerizing effect as well as the chanting style vocal chorus. It just all around feels very authentic and true to the vision of Nihil Invocation.
This band has really grown on me over the time, and I have really grown to like this sound a lot. Its rather easy listing I feel and I think that the simplistic approach is what helps. After a while it does all sort of blend together, especially if you throw the entire discography on shuffle. At times I couldn’t tell certain releases apart, except for this one. The Chaos of Our Lost and Evil Souls has a very distinct sound to it and I think is a strong progression forward and hopefully a step Deathwalker explores more in the future with Nihil Invocation as its slowing becoming one of my favorite USBM acts around. The Nargaroth cover is a nice touch as well and the influence is clear to see.