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Band: Nochnoy Dozor
Title: Nochnoy Dozor [EP]
Release date: 26 October 2018
Label: Prophecy Productions
Tracklist:
01. Black Hand
02. Stains
03. Closer
04. Home Sick Home
05. All Mine
06. Ben-Hur
Like I said it already many times that every single release coming from Prophecy Productions is worth the attention by everybody who likes to discover something unique and interesting in the dark music fields, the same goes of course for the Greek newcomers Nochnoy Dozor. The band which features Manos Georgakopoulos from Universe217 on guitar was formed in late 2015 and is here to offer their self-titled debut EP. The name of the band translates as Night Watch and is inspired by the Sergei Lukyanenko novel of the same name. Their music is an intriguing mix of variety of genres, from ambiental soundscapes to doom, and from pop to harsh rock, but what stands out in the first place is the dual female vocalists that guide the listener through the music.
Nochnoy Dozor' debut EP consists of six atmospheric and dynamic songs that need some time to get under your skin. It's not really love at the first sight, but more and more that this compositions are discovered in their very depth the more they show all of the beauty that it's hidden inside. There are many mesmerizing captivating melodies intertwined with discordant harsh riffs, but everything is well suited with haunting ambiances. Nochnoy Dozor can be emotional as hell, yet at the very next part they serve with some heavily crushing wall of sludge doom sound.
The music is dark and often defined by the sophisticated interplay of synths and guitars. Everything is sometimes pretty multilayered, the tracks are vibrant and shivery, there's gloom, goth and doom that gets its peak in some highly evocative vocal arrangements, like for example in the amazing almost epic "Ben-Hur", or in the melancholic ballad "Home Sick Home". Actually every single track offers something different from the musical and emotional point of view, but still it pretty much forms a homogenous sonic entity. The band is able to create catharsis for the listener already with atypical musical explorations in the captivating opener "Black Hand", and what follows on just deepens the whole experience.
Nochnoy Dozor are unique in what they are doing from many points of view, it's not that they just want to create a special atmospheric music, but as well from the technical point the music is just mesmerizing, just listen for example to those guitar lines, bass lines and drums in certain parts of "Stains", and how perfectly everything connects with immersive but strong female vocals and dark gothy synths. Yet there are some post-rock/metal, bluesy and psychedelic elements thrown inside to make everything even more lush, like for example in the crushing "Closer" yet at the same time Nochnoy Dozor don't exagerate, but they understand well that also "less is more" concept can work out very well if only done properly. There might be some strange and not really well-chosen additions that ruin the flow at certain parts, but on the other hand it only makes the whole thing more audacious.
Nochnoy Dozor' debut EP is a great effort and of course we can expect if judging from this offering more great things from this band in the future. Yet I must add that with subtle, but never simplistic lyrics, and musicians subordinating themselves to the music's immersive atmosphere, the band is able to take you on a sonic journey deep into subconscious and at the same time out of this savage planet. Just a right amount of darkness, melancholy and sweetness is most of the time in the right balance with more experimental and complicated song structures. Nochnoy Dozor' music needs a devoted listener, but it's worth a try and I'm pretty sure that will sooner or later get under your skin.
Review written by: T.V.
Rating: 8/10
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