Nocturnal Excision - Genèse Morte (2011) - Intense vocals meet progressive depression - 90% (30/11/11)

Nocturnal Excision are a very emotional, atmospheric and epic black metal band that convinces with hypnotizing doom passages, despaired and very unique shrieks and occasional death growls as vocals and some small experiments that work very well in the calmer songs of the record. From speedy underground tracks like "Maladie Raëlienne" to very slow songs as "Genèse morte", the band shows some great variations of style and their songs never get boring or redundant. They have a very depressive and progressive style that makes them unique.

What also makes this band stand out is that they are good or at least creative musicians. It's a joy to listen to a black metal band that gets away from dumb blast beats, sharp underground riffs and closed-minded shrieks. Nocturnal Excision offer a great drum variation in each song and almost no blast beats, very addicting guitar harmonies and stunning vocals. Even the bass play is more addicting as in many other bands that always play the same riffs over and over again. With their first full length record, the band already proves that they are not afraid to walk on unknown paths and want to be different and unique. On the other side, you really need to be in a special hypnotizing mood to fully enjoy this record as this is an album for special occasions and something you should listen to with some concentration.

The first true highlight of the album is the progressive and transcendent "Les agneaux du regret" that features some really beautiful guitar harmonies and has a beautiful opening. Another intriguing song is "Les quatre corbeaux" that opens with military march drums which becomes a pattern that always reappears between different passages of this diversified song. The vocals are just pure madness and really intense in a quite short running time. One of the most interesting songs is without a doubt the emotional title track "Genèse morte" featuring chilling acoustic guitars which is dedicated to some young friends of the band members that all died in tragic accidents or committed suicide. The song and the entire album are a great and honourable away to keep the memory of the deceased ones alive and one can really feel the pain and sorrow in the songs.

In the end, next to my three personal highlights, I must mention that there is in fact not a single bad track on the record. In the future, the band should even focus more on their depressive and progressive harmonies and stay courageous by trying out acoustic guitars and similar stuff in their tracks. The only flaw of this record is the rather bad underground sound quality. If you can get your hands on a copy of the band, don't hesitate as they are a big hope for the black metal scene of Quebec. I hope that this band carries on and gets some greater attention in the future and I hope that my review may eventually help them to establish their style and name in the international black metal scene.