‘Arcanum’ is the second offering from NIHT and they seem to have grown and evolved significantly since their previous sacrifice, ‘Vanum’, four years ago.
‘Arcanum’ is a beast and a battering ram, from the opening bars of ‘Angst’ to the closing chords of ‘Tod’, there is little deviation between the individual tracks, bar a brief episode of bells tolling on ‘Luge’ and some sort of indistinguishable howling on ‘Sucht’, and this will definitely please the lovers of the more vitriolic and demented black metal underworld.
The vocals are angry and possessed throughout, delivered with ferocity and power with true malevolent intention. The vocals are dominant and sit atop the guitars and drum work with some commanding presence. The whole album seems to be under the curse of the vocal directives and this all builds to an imposing experience.
That being said, the string work on ‘Arcanum’ is nothing short of mesmerising. They are intricate and delicate whilst keeping a blistering pace and burning with desire. The four strings are pummelling and create a bass riff well worthy of notoriety and respect. It is chugging and muscular whilst still being able to intertwine with its six string sibling in order to create a platform working in unity..
The seven tracks on ‘Arcanum’ are distinguished and merciless in equal measures. The vocals are repentless but on the odd occasion stray into the field of appearing to scream and roar out of place with the rest of the track so could be toned and measured with slightly more precision, but saying that this is a well accomplished and relevant release.
This is well worth a punt if you want to discover a new maniacal, dirty and raw package as opposed to your more mainstream, better known black metal stalwarts
(7/10 Phil Pountney)
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