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Band: En Nihil
Album title: The Approaching Dark
Release date: 25 February 2013
Label: Eibon Records
Tracklisting:
01. The Tombs Of Empire
02. Frozen Postures
03. The Hearts Relent
04. Human Animal
05. Futile Man – The Weight Of Absolution
06. Souls To Cease
07. Vulture Reign
08. The Approaching Dark
09. Darkfall
Have you ever wondered what kind of sounds would be heard on earth after the apocalypse? The humans are gone, universe is collapsing, what's the real sound of death? Los Angeles based one man band En Nihil is exploring or trying to get close to that since 1994 and this year Adam Fritz (the man behind the name En Nihil), after quite a long hiatus, represented us one of the darkest releases ever heard, The Approaching Dark. Those into dark ambient sounds must have already heard about the name En Nihil, others must check it out, as this outfit is something exceptional in the genre.
The Approaching Dark is tagged as dark industrial, but I'm not satisfied with this labeling as it offers much more. The whole atmosphere is closer to some dark ambient, even if it's not just that, there's of course a lot of power electronics, noise and drone. Everything is kind of research, more than just a composition, though, on the other hand is well composed. There are no vocals, the sounds speak for themselves. From electronic buzzes in the opener "The Tombs Of Empire", through typical dark ambiental soundscapes on "The Hearts Relent", where kind of hidden melody comes to surface, almost emotional, into death industrial abrasive "Futile Man – The Weight Of Absolution". Sometimes the whole thing sounds too much claustrophobic, sometimes even too schizophrenic, but always it's keeping the listener interested in what's coming next. The Approaching Dark is not nihilism anymore, it's a step ahead from it. It has been completed, the worst kind of nihilistic views came true. There's no need for it anymore, as those remaining sounds that occupy the earth are not run by living anymore, soon enough there will be one eternal darkness, deep silence and void, just listen to the title track "The Approaching Dark" and its almost eleven minutes of disturbing manace, yet everything finds its peak of surrealism and calmness in the last sector "Darkfall", where even some martial glimpses come to surface, that's the melody of death, I doubt there's any hope hidding in it after all.
I know, this release is hard to absorb, but still it's very adventurous. It's cold, inhuman, the details play the huge role here, so it needs to be concetrated while listening to it and that's the hardest thing, especially if you are not into the genre. It's like the stench of death, machines without control and tension in the waste space all around. The Approaching Dark is more than music, no, this is not music at all, it's art of death, it's a prophecy, it's impossible to rate, only god can..., oh, wait god is dead,...
Review written by: T.V.
Rating: N/A
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