NYRST: Orsök (BLACK METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Once is not customary for the Dark Essence label, Nyrst comes from Iceland. Author so far of only one demo in 2016, the band is based in Reykjavik and plays black metal.

And we would have liked to say only good things about "Orsök", his first misdeed. Because his cover is pretty. Because its music is well done, theater of a black art certainly also a little too fashionable, both granitic and twilight, carved in compositions with epic and tortuous architecture that dress massive and sizzling guitars. Because Icelanders know how to paint nocturnal landscapes and unravel disquieting atmospheres ('Nástirni'). Because a track like 'Hvísl Hinna Holdlausu' and its ten minutes erect in an eternal night without stars a snowy block that lacerates the bite of the flames.

For all these reasons, we would have liked to say only good things, but it is not possible. This album is not shameful, quite the contrary, it is just similar to dozens of others. The successive dives in its intimacy do not really allow to catch the memory. It's cold but not in the right direction, the opus is empty of even negative or hateful emotions. Black metal is still an art that is not only listened to but also felt. In this sense, Nyrst, in spite of his obvious skill, fails to take us in his wake, finally leaving us on the edge of the sinuous path he walks. We can then measure how much know-how is not always synonymous with success.

No doubt, however, that "Orsök" will find its audience - the label "Icelandic black metal" is a seller - and let's recognize the eye-catching finery that makes its listening easy. But Nyrst will have to offer more if he hopes one day to knock on the door to the big league...
- Official website

NYRST

ORSÖK

DARK ESSENCE RECORDS

BLACK METAL