Style: melodic black metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: kick ass black metal with a strong pension for violent melodies in the style of Dissection
Thoughts: Oh Dissection, how we miss thee. Thine first and second albums were albums that defined the mythos of melodic black metal. For it was to come to pass that thine time ended too soon, may your eternal spirit live on in Ninkharsag.
Looking at the cover of The Black Swords of Winter it should be painfully obvious what the primary influence on this melodic black metal band is: Dissection. Specifically, Storm of the Lights Bane. Ninkharsag has managed to tap into that crazy intense melodic frenzy that Dissection used throughout that album. Riff after face melting riff of hooks and chops that not only brings in violence, but does so memorably - it's a really rare combination that few bands can accomplish let alone master.
The entirety of The Black Swords of Winter is less than thirty minutes long. This is the ultimate double edged sword. There is not a moment of waste on this album, every moment is used to the maximum... yet I wish that there was more to it. It's so rare to get a melodic album that captures aggression this well, I end up spinning the record multiple times in a row whenever it hits the turntable to satiate my need for this kind of music.
Dissection is gone, and with it the mastermind that pioneered this kind of music. Wither or not that's a good or a bad thing we will never know. As it stands however, there are a few bands that have taken up the Dissection mantle, and I'll be damned if Ninkharsag isn't one of if not the best in that camp.
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