Mist of Nihil "Buried Laments" (February 2014)
On their 2014 release “Buried Laments” Mist of Nihil deliver
an overwhelmingly morose brutality in the album’s five songs. Though the songs
are heavy (there’s no doubt about this), they all have an overbearing weight of
something dismal and grim, flooding in to our thoughts. This album
combines complex rhythms, technical beats and riffs, and a sound that
constantly drives forward despite its weight.
The album has a powerful sense of doom, so that’s a great
success. But it also keeps listeners interested. It’s not so gloomy that it
becomes boring and it’s not so speedy and brutal as to loose it’s crushing morose aura.
Songs on this album have a really entrancing unity in the
instrumental structure. There seems to always be a centre around which the more
finite and fleeting aspects of the song form an ephemeral husk—or a layer of
dark clouds. Songs on this album are united around a unifying rhythm. An Ebb
and Flow of doomed tranquility. So when the band deliberately disrupts the
unity of the riff, you really notice it, and this is one of the more unique ways Mist of Nihil keeps us on our feet.
The line up consists of: Panos Leakos – Vocals, George
Griever – Guitars, Thanassis Kg – Guitars, Nicolas Nast Alexandropoulos – Bass,
Makis Vouros – Drums. In my humble opinion, this is a group of musicians who
all share a vision of what their sound is.
Something that many
listeners might notice immediately is the centrality of the drums on this
album. The beats form a bedrock we might say. And the guitars seem to
accomplish a very difficult balance: both heavy and intricate—both peripheral
and central (I include the bass among the guitars). Mist of Nihil’s vocals are
really interesting. Panos doesn’t diverge from his relatively central range,
only going lower or higher with (what feels like) the permission of the rest of
the band. This truly contributes to the band’s phenomenology of the morose.
I have a good feeling about
this album. I enjoy the sounds, the song structures, and the lingering
atmosphere of gloom. A very strong album that seems less about the overcoming
and more about the enveloping of hope and despair into the same muted
syllables.
I feel celebratory in my
lament.
