There is little information to be found on this French black metal outfit on the web; a basic MySpace page, a website containing little more than a logo and an e-mail address… generally you get the impression Nyseius are either highly technophobic or they simply haven’t been up to very much worth talking about or promoting. This debut album comes six years after a four track demo (which incidentally was longer than this one by a few minutes). That’s a long hiatus by most people’s standards and so it does sort of explain the lack of web-presence…as for why such a long break – well it’s not really important so without further ado I shall get to the present.
The French often seem to have quite an experimental take on the black metal sound, and Nyseius are no exception. That said, while there are some avant-garde touches scattered throughout these six tracks for the most it is remains focussed and fairly straight forward. Beginning with an instrumental opener ‘Ibi Deficit Orbis’ has the kind of ominous sibilant simmering that sets a dark and colourless subterranean backdrop for the music to build upon. ‘Militiae’ comes leaping out from the depths; a harsh and unforgiving blackened assault on the eardrums. The militant drum march is a nice touch and given that the song title is Latin for ‘of a soldier’ it fits the general theme well. It’s perhaps a little too easy to say these hellish soldiers march parallel to the panzer division Marduk, but oh well I just did. The harshness is balanced with more atmospheric touches, and as the track plays out a clean though distorted guitar rattles around in the mix hypnotising the listener until the track fades out.
‘Les Symboles De La Catharsis’ arrives with a feral blast and things remain chaotic and out for blood. At one point the guitar descends the scale with a middle-eastern lick that adds a certain splash of colour to the mix, while ‘Lueur d'une Lune Morte’ slows down considerably building atmosphere while still carrying that callous guitar sound. There’s some real hate-filled venom behind the vocals on ‘Endless March’ which also has a dark, menacing mid-paced march as a distorted guitar wobbles through, until all falls back into the depths as ‘Sibro Ticifet Ibi’ plays out. While Militiae is nothing particularly original, it ticks all the right boxes is suitably hate-filled and in parts quite atmospheric. Not an essential album, but recommended if you enjoy the likes of Marduk, Mayhem and 1349.
http://www.myspace.com/nyseius
http://www.atmf.net/label/news.php
