Black metal, with all of its offshoots, movements, and ideologies, lends itself to some creative descriptions. The easiest way to describe Sweden’s Nidsang on sophomore effort Into the Womb of Dissolving Flames? A violent churn. The combination of icy guitar tone, drum sound (particularly in the cymbals), and genuine heft results in a dense, occasionally suffocating feel, while still maintaining plenty of punch. The latter is needed, as the album spends ample time blasting and pummeling the listener into a pulp, but never ad nauseam. Instead, a subtly dynamic approach is achieved by mixing said blasting, riffs ranging from typically Swedish to almost Nightside Eclipse-ian, some key tempo variations, and scathing vocals.
These elements help tracks like opener “Black Void Revelations” move seamlessly through many shifts, while the chillingly melodic leads work as both compositional glue and oft-infectious hooks. Those leads, which range from shredding tremolo lines to just simple guitar solos, are strewn throughout the album to maximum effect. Toss in a wickedly effective production and just enough from the surprise department (the bee-buzzing guitars in “Eschatonic Catharsis” will get ya), and you’ve got more than a pretty darn solid black metal album.
One of the raddest things about Into the Womb is how it can offer mild callouts to better known bands without ever seeming overly derivative, or worse, pandering. Some of those sweet solos give off a touch of a razor-edged Destroyer 666 vibe, while the ending of “The Burning Beyond” feels ever-so-slightly like a good Inquisition warble. These passages are never cheap – or really all that noticeable to all but the most investigative ear – but rather just a smart implementation of some well-crafted tools.
Hell, the album’s most obvious bit of homage – that full-on “A Fine Day to Die” stretch in closer “Abysmal Origins” – might also be its single coolest moment. Not because of the straight-down-to-the-drum-fill Bathory feel, but because the wink-wink-nudge-nudge is seamlessly integrated into a killer track—a killer track that ends with a cycling melody so perfectly simple and essential that it solidifies everything before it.
Still, some may bicker that these tools were crafted by others, or that the album only occasionally reaches riveting levels, and both are certainly valid points. But it is in how Nidsang has brought it all together that makes Into the Womb such a fun, stabbing listen, and any “rarely riveting” claims could easily be rebutted with “not a clunker in the bunch.” It probably won’t garner the kind of attention or praise lauded at sexy picks like a Panopticon or Alraune, but Nidsang has provided yet another piece of what is forming up to be a fun summer surge for black metal.
