Xasthur - Nocturnal Poisioning

Xasthur easily rises above most of the American black metal scene. This the first release from the one-man project created by one Malefic, and is considered the best Xasthur album by many. Now I don't know if I'd go that far since Telepathic With The Dead was a brilliant album, but this record is probably even more grim and cold that that one.

From the beginning to the end this album reeks of death. The production is rough. Much like Transilvanian Hunger it is very compressed, obviously recorded on an analogue tape machine. The music is not as slow as some have characterized it; more often it's mid-pace, sometimes fast, but there aren't really any blast-beats on here. From time to time, it gets very slow and doom-like, but for the most part it's fairly driving. The guitars are mixed so that they are difficult to hear, but the guitar sound is more to my liking here than on Telepathic.... The vocals are present, but impossible to discern. They sound very much like voices of the dead or dying, barely coming to you through a maelstrom of an abyss of death; very creepy and effective.

This is music to lose yourself to. It drowns you into its oceanic, Lovecraftian depths, sucking you in, not letting any light disturb its black and bleak message. Eeire and unsettling, it's easy to hear why Xasthur was embraced by many black metal fans, and even fans outside of metal. This album actually is probably the best place to start to get into this band, as it features all of Malefic's hallmarks, and has some of his best guitar riffs and probably the best uses of keyboards on any of his four albums. Essential and very cult.