Nox Aurea’s first album was simply a sublime slice of Gothic-Doom that took elements from the original Peaceville bands, Tiamat, and Type O Negative but also leaned the lessons of contemporaries such as Swallow The Sun to create something astounding. From the moment I press play on ‘Ascending in Triumph’ I’m not disappointed. The band’s performances are stronger, the songs more concise and the production is excellent. All the elements you want are there - the heavy bludgeoning guitars, anguished vocals, ambient keyboards and a little touch of ethereal feminine vocals.
‘Ascending in Triumph’ is a powerful statement of intent and as an opening track it doesn’t disappoint - slow tempo, ambient keyboards and heavy guitars and vocals make for a strong eight minute introduction. ‘The Loss and Endeavour of Divinity’ carries on this confident form with ease over it’s length, adding orchestral strings to the mix reminiscent of My Dying Bride before crashing into a slow Swallow The Sun-like Death-Doom. ‘The Shadowless Plains’ stylistically carries on from the previous track which gives this part of the album a very nice flow - gone are the strings though in favour of the guitars and keyboards for a heavier ambience. ‘Mother Alethia Chapter II’ is the sequel to the song on the first album - it makes for a nice change of pace with the acoustic guitar + string intro before the heavy guitars crash in hard.
‘The Delight of Autumn Passion’ starts with a very early Anathema style guitar riff before the drums and keys drop in for that big sound you expect from this band - excellent use of the female vocals here. ‘My Voyage Through Galactic Aeons’ has a hint of Tiamat keyboard work to the intro, but it soon builds into a sweeping epic of tempo changes, dual vocals, and heavy riffs permeated by ethereal keyboards. ‘To The Grave I Belong’ is a harrowing eight minutes of distilled melancholy and anguish - a straighter, more stripped back death-doom attack makes for a nice change after a lot of cinematic pieces. The final song ‘Emedare’ completely changes tact for a haunting, slightly muted classical ambient piece that feels like a rather satisfying closing credits.
This is an utterly stunning album - though like the previous effort ‘Via Gnosis’, the tracks would be an endurance test for a casual listener. But if you like Gothic-Doom this album should be required listening - the performances are fantastic, the production crisp, and the song writing is compelling. The only minor criticism is that every so often the band repeat a couple of the same tricks in the songs, but that is me scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to find any faults with this.
http://www.noxaurea.com
http://www.myspace.com/noxaurea
