NOX

Boasting former members of CENTURIAN and current members of SEVERE TORTURE in its ranks, The Netherlands' NOX comes with a teeth rattling debut alum called "Ixaxaar". Steeped in the occult and powered by a blackened death metal engine, "Ixaxaar" is not for the weak-willed or the physically meek. It is a blasting and calamitous whirlwind of death metal atrocity, no two ways about it.

Comparatively speaking, you will hear a combination ANGELCORPSE, BELPHEGOR, the blunt force of HATE ETERNAL, and the war metal destructiveness of an act like Australia's ABOMINATOR, as well as a bit of early MORBID ANGEL. NOX fits squarely into the category of bands that are rooted in death metal bludgeon, but whose overall approach is primed with the rawness and frightening abandon of the most vicious black metal. The nastiness of the affair knows no bounds, regardless of the somewhat familiar sound employed.

Those that enjoy the kind of blackened death metal fare to which I've referred will understand the manner in which the riffs sound like swirling machetes. Adding a blast-beaten drumming style to the six-string whirlwind results in arrangements that disrupt one's equilibrium. Lower to mid-range death growls (not the overly guttural variety) are heard most often, while frequent use of the black metal shrieks give the tunes that oh so important measure of maliciousness. The solos are quick and to the point, like an efficient slash across the throat.

One should not assume though that "Ixaxxar" is a one-dimensional album though, even though initial spins may lead one to believe so. It's just that first-time listeners will be so overwhelmed by the intensity that paying attention to compositional nuance becomes secondary to personal safety. Songs like "Blind Mad God" and "Darkness Undying" demonstrate the band's ability to incorporate effective, if brief, tempo changes (though things rarely slow down),as well as moments when the machete riffing lightens up just a hair and allow the licks to breathe (more like a gasp for air). We are talking in very relative terms of course. The only real reprieves one gets from the unrelenting insanity are on tracks like "Intoxicated with Death" (the slow, BELPHEGOR-esque beginning) or the shift to mid-tempo during sections of "Zazaz", but the breaks are short lived and the killing soon begins again in earnest.

Relaxation of any sort is not an option with an album like "Ixaxaar". It is often difficult to harness the feeling one gets when everything seems on the brink of imploding, but stops just short of it. It is that kind of controlled chaos that makes "Ixaxaar" so damn disorienting. Take cover.