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Zemial - Nykta review




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Reviewer:
9.0

25 users:
7.72
Band: Zemial
Album: Nykta
Release date: October 2013


01. Ancient Arcane Scrolls
02. Eclipse
03. Under Scythian Command
04. In The Arms Of Hades
05. Breath Of Pestilence
06. Deathspell
07. The Small
08. Pharos
09. Out Of The Cage

"The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason and critical analysis" - Dalai Lama. If the above quote was to be the standard of grading for musicians, it would appear that Greece's Archon Vorksaath is certainly passing the mark. Nykta, the third full effort from his Zemial project, is the type of album that evens out its various facets of personality excellently, and serves as only further testament to the amazing potential that can lie within one man bands.

Zemial was pretty much always blackened thrash at its core, but Nykta sees the project dabbling into more progressive territory than arguably ever before. There are still some aggressive cuts of course, that conjure thoughts of classic bands like Venom and Possessed ("Under Scythian Command," "Breath Of Pestilence," "Deathspell"), guaranteed to get some heads banging and delight fans of more classic forms of extreme metal.

But Vorksaath also takes to his latest work of art with a stimulating level of detail and atmosphere that hints at things far bigger and better than your average retro tribute to the 80s. Tracks like "Ancient Arcane Scrolls," "Eclipse," and the beautiful instrumental "The Small" have a much more relaxed and hypnotic feel, with a fantastic delivery of guitar leads and keyboard effects that come across as nothing short of dreamlike. "Pharos," perhaps the defining track of the album, is a 14 ½ minute voyage through an almost spacey instrumentation, with a near flawless level of layering that hints at many great things to come for Zemial in the future.

The key word with Nykta then, is balance. Aggressive, technical, in your face, and relaxing, there are truly few bases that Archon Vorksaath fails to cover this time around. With astoundingly varied production that brings every instrument out on the more progressive tracks, yet also buries the ones that need to be for the more orthodox ones, Nykta is a true artistic release, and quite possibly the project's best yet.

Stream it in full over here.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 9
Production: 10





Written on 26.01.2014 by Metal Storm’s own Babalao. Comforting the disturbed and disturbing the comfortable since 2013.


Comments

Comments: 5   Visited by: 337 users
27.01.2014 - 00:23
Reaper_Redeemer

Btw, "Nykta" means "Night" in the greek language.
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27.01.2014 - 17:20
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Written by Reaper_Redeemer on 27.01.2014 at 00:23

Btw, "Nykta" means "Night" in the greek language.

Interesting trivia, this album definitely does have a bit of a trippy nighttime aura about it
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I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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05.02.2014 - 15:47
Infernal Eternal

Written by Reaper_Redeemer on 27.01.2014 at 00:23

Btw, "Nykta" means "Night" in the greek language.

+1. This one is an excellent work btw.
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{}::::::[]:::::::::::::::::> ONLY DEATH IS REAL <:::::::::::::::::[]::::::{}
Rest In Peace: Bon Scott, Dave G. Halliday, Michael "Destructor" Wulf, Jerry Fogle, Quorthon, Witchhunter
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02.01.2019 - 12:52
nikarg

This is a 5 year-old review and I don't know whether you still have the same opinion that you share here, but to me Nykta is one of the greatest albums that have come out of this small corner of the world.
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02.01.2019 - 14:25
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Written by nikarg on 02.01.2019 at 12:52

This is a 5 year-old review and I don't know whether you still have the same opinion that you share here, but to me Nykta is one of the greatest albums that have come out of this small corner of the world.

Yes it's quite the good one, really looking forward to a new album from this guy
----
I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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