Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Nephthys
Label: Self-released
Release: year
Rating: 4.5/5
Nephthys is an Egyptian goddess, the goddess of mourning and a symbol of the transition into the afterlife. As one of the most important Egyptian deities, she played “nurse” to the pharaoh, looking after his health, shielding him from enemies (whom she’d reduce to ashes if she had PMS) and playing a key role in his passage into the world of the dead. The symphonic black/death metal outfit Nephthys from Novo mesto, meanwhile, step into the “nurse” role inside an asylum of ghosts on their debut Ghost Asylum, released last year.
After the long, chilling symphonic intro Behind the Asylum Walls, which sets up the dark atmosphere of this (possibly?) concept album, Nephthys shove us behind the gray concrete walls of an abandoned madhouse, where the gloomy spirits of its dead patients drift through the vast corridors. One of them is the protagonist of the story, who ended up in the bowels of the building because of a psychotic rage, the very rage Nephthys mercilessly unleash on us once the intro fades. And what an assault it is! The duo from Novo mesto draws its power from symphonic black metal that occasionally recalls genre masters Emperor, with some brutal death metal sections thrown into the mix here and there. But the album’s main draw is its brilliantly built atmosphere, which crashes out of Ghost Asylum in mighty waves. Forget the black metal kitsch of modern symphonic black metal bands like Dimmu Borgir or Cradle of Filth: Nephthys manage to conjure a rich, shiver-inducing ambience with the keyboards that is never too pompous, pushy or over-the-top obvious. The symphonic orchestral parts fit in nicely and breathe together with the beastly guitar lines, which are clearly thought out down to the last detail and occupy exactly the spot meant for them. What’s more, the album’s symphonic side recalls the orchestral parts of King Diamond records like Them far more than any quasi-black-metal symphonic pomp. The raw yet intelligible and convincingly furious vocals lay out the protagonist’s story with incredible fidelity and precision. His madness gets exploited by the dark forces of the ghost asylum to summon otherworldly powers from the ancient world (which, knowingly or not, brings to mind the ancient gods of H.P. Lovecraft). The aggressive black metal roar is occasionally joined by surprising clean vocals, which are placed perfectly and add even more to the atmosphere of hell’s gates swinging open in epic fashion. On the title track, the “battle” between the brutal and the melancholic clean vocals works as a symbol of the split mind of a psychotic schizophrenic. The crushing drumming, which doesn’t just fall back on wild blast beats but offers much more variety and dynamics, teams up with the hellish guitar lines to arrive at an epic finale, the nearly eight-minute masterpiece To Resurrect the Dead (with ingenious instrumental passages, of which the album has no shortage anyway). In it, the album’s “hero” finally succumbs to the demonic forces and accepts his role as a portal, a gateway through which creatures of such horror crawl that they can’t be named with earthly names.
With a great cover (the work of Mario Lopez), Nephthys welcome us into their bloody embrace of black metal, which they build on with crafty, well-thought-out symphonic parts to create an unforgettable atmosphere steeped in dread and shivers. Ghost Asylum is without a doubt one of the best Slovenian metal releases in recent times, and Dorian and Matej have proven with it that you can still make a symphonic black metal album that doesn’t come off as cheesy and half-baked, but as elaborate, varied and rich. Rise and fall; fall with Nephthys, and sink into the endless darkness of the asylum of ghosts.
You can listen to the tracks at the links below, and you can order the album at [email protected]
http://www.youtube.com/user/NephthysOfficial
http://www.facebook.com/nephthys.band
Lineup
Dorian Žulič – vocals, guitar, bass, orchestrations
Matej Kržišnik – drums
Production
Dorian Žulič
Tracklist
1. Behind the Asylum Walls
2. Psychotic Rage
3. Ghost Asylum
4. Oracle of Doom
5. New Order
6. The Ancient World
7. More Blood
8. To Resurrect the Dead
