NORDLYS REVIEW
NORDLYS - LICHTERGLANZ FINSTERNIS
There is something alluring yet bewitching about the night sky and that which it offers. For if one were to truly absorb its essence, to bask in the stillness that is granted, the mind may become lost in the obsidian lake that stretches across the sky, speckled with clusters of stars, where the darkness shines ever more brightly in its splendor. For the mind can be akin to the night, where even that which is desolate can bear a work of art so beautiful that it is as though the umbral spirit gives life unto the elements that adorn it in celestial splendor.
“Lichterglanz Finsternis” by Nordlys is an album that forges a soundscape that stretches across the night sky, where one’s mind may seek solace. For within solitude, the emotions of man can become free to evolve and ascend into the night, as it is an album that allows the animation of the soul to feel untethered from the flesh. Resonating with a sound rooted in old-school Black Metal, carrying within its transmission the spirit of the ’90s as well as some folk-like tones, Nordlys fosters a sound akin to entities such as Pest and Forgotten Woods. However, the beauty of Nordlys comes forth in its ability to translate these older tones into an atmosphere that feels interactive through the listening experience.
When one gazes into the Stygian ink of night, beyond that which is seen with mortal eyes, it is as though our thoughts take shape, be they crude or gentle in their contours. Yet within the mind, all that remains are mere patterns locked away. But unto the night, there exist possibilities, where such thoughts exhibit no inhibition. Free they become, carousing alongside a windswept sky, where a meditative essence is fostered. For it is like the guitars, where each chord takes new form, each melody that is released swells and intertwines with the atmosphere, and each element changes the form of the other
Dissonance becomes a feature that embeds itself into the very melodies that are manifested, but not in a way that obscures the playing, nor does it seem like a facade by which to make the songs appear boisterous. Rather, it renders unto the tracks an organic yet honest cadence. The actual sound is exhaled in a crude manner, raw and earthy in its tone. This, by extension, is where the production whets the strings’ resonance, imbuing it with a sharp, metallic articulation in the notes. In the same vein, the movements of the melodies exhibit an erratic behavior within their current, often shifting from a frenetic and feverish motion to more subdued interjections, as heard on the track “Night!”, where the riffing slows down to the rhythmic pace of the drums and vocals, by extension introducing a more sombre and tranquil ambience, but in the same breath remaining the dominant element as it controls the vehemence of the energy.
A bolt of lightning that rips through the night sky, illuminating its darkness, can truly be a wonder to behold, for in tandem, it feels as though light and dark coalesce, but it also gives the illusion of the night devouring the light. But what lends this gravitas is naught just the flash of light. Rather, it is the power within sound. Like thoughts that take shape and form, their resonance clings to their movements. So too does the percussion embody this essence, its sound forking into reverberations, just as thunder coincides with lightning, thus granting synergy betwixt thought and its motion of language.
A primitive spirit surrounds the drumming, as though the drums are hardened fists that beat the earth in both repulsion and fury, where the heart becomes the mediator between mind and hands, and from that expulsion, a rhythmic sound is fashioned. But let it be known that primitive does not diminish the quality. Rather, it is worthy of praise, for the translation of the primal spirit into physical art becomes seamless, like an exposed nerve throbbing in response to the stimuli around it, just like the drumming, which appears reactive to the emotions that feed it.
“Wilde Natur” and “Heimgang” are tracks that demonstrate the battery of the drumming, but also the manner in which the production grants it a scabrous and steel-like tone, where every beat feels animated. The cymbals further this sensation, where their crashing sound, appearing sharp, renders a sense of volatility. However, these contrasting textures of tone not only create an organic aura, but also coexist with the guitars in juxtaposition. Where the guitars tend to be more melodic, with somewhat of a folk tinge, the drumming complements them with a Black ’n’ Roll beat, where both elements fuse together, accentuating the overall atmosphere.
The consciousness that communes with the tenebrous energy of the night may hear its voice through the senses, be it the cold and distant wind that rustles amongst the leaves, a hunger-stricken wolf, rabid in its ferocity, or the careening of the grass in a melodious fashion. With every sound made under the night sky, darkness answers darkness. And so, like a chant that erupts from the lips and dissolves into the air, where words transfigure themselves into the cadence of the night’s song as they travel upon sable wings, so too do the vocals dissolve into the night, where its speech becomes fused into its song. For the very delivery feels as though a human soul flows through the night sky and, in turn, the night flows through him, where a unification is forged through chant and magick.
Echoing with a rupturing energy, the vocals appear as a primal dissonance, like a bark that dwells within the stomach of man, clinging to its walls like a shrunken belly to bones. The vocals, in turn, escape with a rushing sensation, transfiguring the bellowing of human sounds into a feral transmission. “Wolf” and “Totenweihe” demonstrate this coarse dialogue, where, at times, the vocals sound similar to Misþyrming concerning the energy that is expelled. This energy, in turn, renders the guitars and drums in different layers, acting as an anchor to these supernal yet crepuscular essences, where the vocals add a density through their abrasive texture, both enhancing these features and creating a path for the consciousness to feel through their tangible currents.
Nordyls becomes the Cimmerian cloak, rippling like quicksilver upon a lake, where celestial stars stipple its tail. In draping the consciousness as it communes with the night, thoughts are turned into shapes, and those shapes transform into a conflagration of colors that cascade across the sky. For through this dialogue, the mind becomes the night.
9/10
