Artist: Numen
Title: Numen
Type: Album re-issue
Label: LADLO Productions

I was delighted to receive a promo pack from this small French label, Les Acteurs De Lombres Productions, which is owned by Vehrohn aka Pensees Nocturnes whose excellent album ‘Grotesque’ landed in my top 10 last year. The impression I get here is that the label are trying to build a reputation for releasing quality black metal with passion and genuine artistic flair, rather than simply grabbing every band that comes their way, and in time they will be very highly respected by fans of this sub-genre. This album was originally released in 2007, however given its distribution was limited to their native Spain it made sense to re-issue it via this new label and it is certainly an album that deserves a wider audience.

The album rumbles in with ‘Death Of The Dawn’, which wastes little time in unleashing an assault on the eardrums akin to an overturned truckload of Mach 3’s. The guitar sound is callous and unapologetically twangy, and as we enter the chorus things come neatly together as a swaggering rhythm pounds forth. There is a Pagan spirit underlying things, that initially reveals itself through the majestic clean vocals that break apart the Enslaved-like rasps. ‘The Night Hidden Smile’ just rattles away with no introduction at full on, breakneck speed. There is definitely an old school approach to their style of playing with a Darkthrone-esque abrasiveness coming across especially strong on this track and it sounds incredibly menacing as the sound charges out of the speakers. Soon this track takes a shift in pace, subtly slowing into a more depressive passage complete with hypnotic guitar tone and vocals that ooze desperation before all fading into a sombre acoustic outro that is broken apart by the anguished cries in the background. I love these depressive outbursts, both here and on ‘Flight Of The Crow’, as they add a great bit of atmosphere…and the rather Burzumesque opening of ‘The Hollow Voice Of Silence’ is also rather nice. Moments like this add a much needed bit of reflection to break apart the ferocity as without this contrast things have the tendency to become rather samey.

‘Mirror Of Despair’ deceives me into thinking it’s a return to the same thrashing pace with its intro, however soon settles back into more of a middling pace that kind of allows a nature-esque ambience to seep through. There’s a lot of passion behind the vocals and nice variation and intonation despite their raspy edge. Things suddenly cool down into an unanticipated folksy jig, before regrouping and charging off at full speed once again. There’s a huge beefy sound behind ‘The Grave Of Oblivion’ which has a great swaggering chorus that just makes me want to pound my fist and there’s a certain complexity that breaks this one apart and sends it off in another direction mid-way. Despite being a very good album, this offers nothing new and unfortunately seems to be missing that secret ingredient that makes an album truly memorable. Nevertheless, it’s an album I shall revisit in time, and they are a band I will be keeping my eye on in future.

http://www.myspace.com/numenhorde

Luci Herbert

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