In 1997, a group of German and Polish black metal devotees gathered to keep the flame of true, raw and ferocious black metal alive: Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult. They first stormed the scene with the mind-blowing The Pest Called Humanity demo, which displayed their dedication to this singular purpose. Since then, they’ve led their nocturnal march through five full-length albums and fantastic live performances.
The band’s sound rests on a firm foundation of fast drumming, dizzying guitar and bass work, and Onielar’s glorious shrieking vocals. DNS has no pretense of “innovation” or needless experimentation. They are fully committed to creating black metal in the style of Scandinavia in the early 1990’s, with perhaps a dash of death or thrash thrown in here and there. Sure, there are a lot of bands out there who sound like this. But many of them barely come close to the power of songs like “The Dead Hate the Living,” “Our Glorious Presence” and “Beneath the Moon Scars Above.”
In one sense, they certainly haven’t gotten the attention they deserve – especially when compared to the mediocre morass of bands out there. On the other hand, this has led them to become a respected voice of the underground with their vision and values fully intact. But it’s been awhile since they put out a new album. They’ve played plenty of shows since then, of course, and Onielar even contributed her vocal talents to Bethlehem’s self-titled 2016 album (a picture-perfect match if there ever was one).
Well that’s finally changing this year, because the band now stands ready to issue Mardom, due out on April 12 via War Anthem Records. Check out the song, “Mardom- Echo Zmory” (translates to echoes of nightmares) below. Although I’m not sure if this is intentional, but a lot of the songs on this song remind me of Mayhem’s “Life Eternal.” Regardless, if this song is any indication, it looks like we’re in for another series of captivating Saldorian spells this year.
