Nexion - Seven Oracles (EN)

Iceland has barely a population of 360,000 people. So, the proportional number of Icelanders in the rock and metal genre is insanely high compared to the populous European mainland.

So, there are four other Icelanders and their band Nexion on the starting block and brought their debut album "Seven Oracles" with them. Only the self-titled EP preceded this album in 2017.

But, regardless of their origin, the music is about nihilistic and very occult stuff, which I’m unfortunately only partly capable to understand. If Black Metal is rather tended to be served, it gets incomprehensible ("Seven Oracles"), whereas it gets the more comprehensible the more the songs immerse in Death Metal ("Sanctum Amentiae"). This isn’t even the most remarkable aspect of the album; it is the atmosphere. It’s incredibly intensive and threatening. Like… extremely threatening. I weren’t on the brink of not listening to it for fear, but whatever is sung of, it’s massive. Sadly, that’s all "Seven Oracles" has to offer.

The songs scurry and buzz in their menacing soup and lack an apparent tendency or a common thread. On the technical side the album is very good. The mix is ace and brilliantly underlines the dull Black Metal. The drums are powerful and the guitars sound like heralds of great disaster. But the highly repetitive segments in the songs are so numerous, that listeners quickly lose the focus.

The first time my trance ended, happened with the longest song, "The Last Messiah", which still provides 9 minutes of excitement. The mid-tempo intro with a nice melody and delicate guitars pass over to a not yet blast-beat-choked middle section, in which the growls start. A stylistic intermezzo gives space for the next verse, it builds up and the occult ceremony continues. What’s the statement about an album, that doesn’t catch you before the last song?

Conclusion:
Even though everyone did a good job, "Seven Oracles" doesn’t surpass this certain threshold, that would bring a significant score. The way Nexion plays has been there before too often. Only one or two great songs don’t make a good album. Therefore it suffices only for an average score.

Rating 5,5/10

Recommendation: Revelation Of Unbeing, The Last Messiah