With Disharmonium – Nahab, the second opus in their most recent trilogy, the prolific Vindsval and his cohorts once again fall into the most psychedelic facet of their repertoire. If there are any echoes of black metal in this latest tour de force, they can only be heard from a very distant dimension.
Blut Aus Nord, a rather mysterious French black metal band, entered the pantheon of the genre with the 777 trilogy, whose releases marked the years 2011 and 2012. This was the most avant-garde version of the project, which had also released melodic, more traditionalist albums. Since then, the ensemble has been very productive, though without generating the same buzz as ten years ago. With this new series of albums, the tide finally seems to be turning.
Aesthetically, Disharmonium – Nahab fits perfectly into the wave of obscure, dissonant metal that was launched by Gorguts and Ved Buens Ende in the mid-1990s, then popularized by bands such as Deathspell Omega and Portal the following decade.
Without being completely atonal, Blut Aus Nord’s compositions cling to tense chord progressions that are slow to offer resolution. Vocals and drums are concealed in the background, emphasizing the atmosphere created by multiple layers of fretless guitar. The reasonable length of the tracks also makes up for the labyrinthine development that takes place, making Blut Aus Nord’s music a relatively accessible affair. If a third offering of this caliber is forthcoming in the next year, this will be a brilliant conclusion to the Disharmonium trilogy. Blut Aus Nord remains at the forefront of extreme metal innovation.
