Nigrum Pluviam - Eternal Fall into The Abyss

Nigrum Pluviam

Eternal Fall into The Abyss

by Ben Gardiner at 31 August 2021, 9:30 PM

The all-consuming darkness of NIGRUM PLUVIAM’s latest release is both insatiable and irresistible. Sounding both dense and sparse, angry and solemn, mysterious and vulnerable, Eternal Fall into the Abyss has an immersive atmosphere that will not soon be forgotten. The simplistic instrumentation: stripped back and reverb drenched, with its post-apocalyptic production, supplies the waves of atmosphere and character that the album has. Kraëh Määtruum captures the sense of wondering lost through a moonlit forest, floating through the dark, directionless, tiny and insignificant in the huge expanse that swallows you.

Opening in the deep end of melancholy, the album begins with an eerie, echoed Organ piece, eliciting grand images of Medieval churches on stormy nights. The gloomy peace is shattered by the opening chord of “A Catharsis for the Wretched Carrying the Divine Cross.” The dreamy riffs and strained vocals have a strange clarity in the muddy production. The vocals show lots of variety, tortured screams, howling and gargled high pitched growls, and are much clearer sounding than the unbelievably lo-fi instrumentation, which blends guitars and drums together in an almost indistinguishable pattern, achieving the raw, stricken atmosphere that gives this album its darkness.

Staying true to the title, “The Reflection of Your Agony in the Vulture's Eyes” delves even further into the well of gloom. Tremolo guitar playing and a thunderous double bass, with horrific screams and wails plastered over the top, the listener is taken further into the abyss of Kraëh Määtruum’s mind. A new layer of progression is added to the instrumentation in “Devotion to Absolute Evil,” with interesting blasts and accent choices in the drums. I do wish the instrumentation could be heard clearer because it is really cool, but, sticking to their guns, the lo-fi production remains, giving the song an early Punk or Hardcore demo tape vibe.

“Passage” is a spine-chilling interlude that retains the use of the organ from the intro track, although this time with a much more sinister feel. Sounding like a title sequence to a Hellraiser film, the interlude nicely leads into the last half of the album. The final three tracks are some of the heaviest on the album, with plenty more riffs and melodrama, the album stays good from start to finish.

"Eternal Fall into The Abyss" is a dark, twisted sonic experience for any fan of the atmospheric, lo-fi form of Black Metal. With all the aggression of the traditional Nordic style, but full of production decisions, for better or for worse, that make this stand out. NIGRUM PLUVIAM paint a tapestry of anger, fear and sadness, and invite you to immerse yourself in their world of suffering.

Songwriting:  7
Musicianship:  8
Memorability:  7
Production:  7