Primary Emotions/Themes: Death, cosmos, beings greater than oneself, cosmic chaos
Thoughts: Something magical was happening in the early 90's. Death metal and black metal were newly formed genres and both had an anything goes mentality. There were no rules, no traditions that mandated they be followed (though you could argue that black metal already had several traditions forming).
Death metal in particular was in a remarkable place. So many albums came out with incredibly unique ideas. Some of those ideas would never be able to be replicated. Nespithe has been hugely influential in death metal's sound and no other album has quite matched the uniqueness that it brings. Demilich struck gold, caught lightning in a bottle... they created a near perfect death metal album.
The music is utterly and completely insane. The riffs do whatever the hell they want and never let up. One riff will sound like a collection of notes seemingly having to do with each other. The very next riff will pummel the listener into the ground with it's heaviness only to change at the turn of a hat to a blast beat driven onslaught. That's all within 30 seconds.
The drums are similarly crazy. They accent the music perfectly and change as quickly as the riffs do. Nespithe needs a drum performance that can change at a moments notice, be completely unhinged, yet completely in control at all points. Anything less would ruin it.
And then there are the vocals... Antti's vocals are not of this earth. I've heard low vocals before, but not like this. This is something akin to a tectonic plate moving against another and the low rumble it makes as they clash together. It's just as insane as the rest of the album, as if it could be anything else.
Nespithe is a unique gem in the world of death metal. Often imitated, never duplicated. The pinnacle of Finnish death metal, and one of the finest representations of the genre.
Written August 22nd 2023
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