Band:	Netra
Album:	Mélancolie Urbaine
Style:	Ambient, Trip-Hop, Black metal
Release date:	December 2010

01. City Lights
02. La Page
03. Outside... Alone
04. Through The Fear
05. Terrain Vague
06. Outside... Maybe
07. Blasé

Aimless walks through the streets while soaking in the unrelenting rain. In the background you notice the foreboding cries of the ambulances and police cars. All the pedestrians look like moving blocks of flesh, as if the smog took the life out of them. A pain in the chest is fueled by the concrete jungle and its' mechanic coldness, finally erupting into an anguished scream.

In roughly two minutes, Netra sets the mood perfectly. Feelings of absolute desolation, detachment from society and harsh indifference from big cities are portrayed in a unique fusion of black metal and trip-hop. For the uninitiated; trip-hop can be described as an electronic genre that incorporates hip-hop influences (especially with the beats) and at times jazz, although many other styles can be incorporated into this highly experimental genre? And with Netra that style is black metal.

The slow, distorted and painful riffs recall the feats of older black metal acts with depressive, doom-like undertones. If isolated, the riffs might appear unremarkable to some listeners but the layers created by the keyboards, drum machine and varied samples lift them up to the stars. The guitar work does provide with some fresher highlights in the form of bluesy, melancholic solos that, together with the prominent melodic bass, truly captures the bitter sweetness of urban life.

Vocal-wise, Netra mostly focuses on two styles: Distant, echoing howls and screams in the vein of old Shining or even Lifelover at times although less deranged in nature. The other type of vocals consist of cleans that appear less often yet contribute a lot by providing a more human and emotional layer.

A decent bunch of black metal bands have flirted with electronic styles before, but I truly feel like this project is one of the few that takes it to the next level. Making these influences more than just outside influences forced into the regular formula, but rather a key part to Netra's sound as vital as everything else. Tread with an open mind and discover how the woods can't hold a candle to the darkness of the streets!

Bandcamp (free download, for all you cheap fucks!)