Review from Metal Wave Webzine

Posted by Nick Skog on Friday, November 22, 2013 Under: Album Reviews
From: Metal Wave Webzine
Published: November 22, 2013
*Google translation of Italian review

Americans of Massachusetts Obsidian Tongue arrive at this second album mileage under Hypnotic Dirge Records, the record company that seems to have a penchant for the more diaphanous sonorities of Black Metal. It does not change the music with Obsidian Tongue, atmospheric black metal duo who prefers precisely this kind of sound. 

At a superficial listening there would be every reason to frame this album in the usual (hated) post black metal vein canvas Fortunately, however, "A nest ..." is something more: it is not too hard a doom and black metal with one side short and unnecessary, as other bands do. Here the black metal is more prevalent and integrated into the compositions, making the album a bit 'more than the plethora of "Agalloch wannabe" exists, and you can even listen to some sound diversification between song and song, with "The birth of tragedy "which incorporates some element of Enslaved, choral parts in the opener Pantheist style riffs and more personal in the second" Black hole in human form ", with among other things, a sound conclusion perhaps not entirely necessary, but that adds variety. And all this despite a graphic that does not affect me and made ​​a good sound but where the guitars lack a bit 'of sharpness in the fast parts. 

It's basically a hard enough successful, this, that, however, is not without fault : The quality of composition comes and goes. First of all, in fact, tracks like the opener "Brothers in the stars", but also elsewhere, you can clearly hear that the disc is in the root of doom, not black metal, and for lovers of doom is for this genre, with a few moments scratching and only one (in "Black Hole in human form") that has not given me the idea of "accelerated part but could also be slow without much changed." And apart from some digressions sound a bit 'insistent and unnecessary, as in the fourth and fifth song, sometimes the songwriting of Obsidian Tongue gets a little' pretentious, as if the songs were stretched out in force without there being the need to ask all last at least 8 minutes. The conclusion is entrusted to the title track, a song purely doom, choral and guitar riffs that draw typically tragic doom and flavor. Needless to say, this is the best song. 

Despite gave me more feelings than usual post-black metal disk, and fail in certain important objectives such as those influences to propose better mix between them and try to be personal, "A nest ... ", however, still has some flaws to file: a musical personality has still not well defined in some parts, there still remains a disc more doom than anything else, and at this point one wonders if a more vocal variety and a detachment from the temptations black metal is not recommended to increase the iridescence of the band. But despite these flaws, what can not be denied is that Obsidian Tongue did work knows that differ by at least partially from the other disks post black metal, and it has some songs compelling and fully successful, although, I repeat: this disc made me smile, but frankly the hard post / atmospheric black metal that strikes me and makes me mad I have yet to hear it. 

Purchase the album is recommended for fans of doom and black metal of the post due to a greater originality and a Quality is not questioned.

Rating: 66/100
Reviewed by: Snarl

In : Album Reviews 


Tags: obsidian tongue nest of ravens throat of time atmospheric primal prganic black metal massachusetts john haughm agalloch subradiant architecture autolatry alda panopticon falls of rauros 


OBSIDIAN TONGUE - A NEST OF RAVENS IN THE THROAT OF TIME
 

 Released: July 29, 2013
600 Copies
Atmospheric Primal Black Metal

CO-RELEASE WITH DISSOCIATION RECORDS (OBSIDIAN TONGUE'S LABEL)


ORDER CD
FREE STREAMING