NAILED TO OBSCURITY

Black Frost

NUCLEAR BLAST German doomsters emerge from the shadows

After a decade of toil, 2017’s King Delusion put Nailed To Obscurity’s doom/death on the radar of a wider audience, not least Nuclear Blast, for whom this is their debut. Always teetering between grand melodies and oppressive atmosphere, NTS employ a more epic, restless melodic death metal edge than previously. The opening title track builds layers of mournful leads and the elegant strumming of Opeth’s early and mid-periods. Raimund Ennenga trades viscous growls with more gothic-tinged clean vocals to balance the troubled undercurrents of Feardom, and though The Aberrant Host’s build to windswept glory is entirely predictable it’s executed with such verve that it’s impossible not to be transported to cold mountain ranges at dusk.

FOR FANS OF: Paradise Lost, Insomnium, Opeth

ADAM REES