The Key is an album that I stumbled across in my youth. The cover was cool as hell and it was a few bucks, so I figured why not. When I got home I popped the CD in and was greeted by some old school death metal... with keyboards!
I didn't know it then but Nocturnus was the first death metal band to incorporate keys into their core sound. They aren't ever present like they are in some bands, but they are present enough that they play a major role in Nocturnus' sound.
Noctourns' sound is more than just heavy riffs, growled vocals and keyboards sprinkled on top though. I didn't remember this at first, but there is quite a bit going on here. The riffs have the guitars playing off each other in complex patters. The drums in particular adapt to the music in dynamic ways that I don't often hear in death metal. Blast beats are incredibly rare on the album, and when they do come they are short lived. The snare and bass drums interact very much the same way a bass and guitars intermingle and compliment each other. It makes for an enjoyable listen.
The melodies also are very much an artifact of their time. They have a strong "old school" feel to them, except when this album released they were contemporary. The riffs gallop, change pace instantly, and shred like they could only do in the early days of the genre... and there is a lot of them. Each song goes through riffs like they are going out of style.
This isn't as brutal as a lot of death metal. This isn't as technical as a lot of death metal. This isn't talking about gore or satan. This is riff fueled, sci-fi driven early death metal... it knows exactly what it wants to be and it should be celebrated.
Thursday, July 13, 2023
Entry 507 - Nocturnus - The Key
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