A Nihilistic Swarm

Ugly display of great riffs and in your face power. ‘A Nihilistic Swarm’ does have a lot of potential, which is shown by its first half. Unfortunately, it’s also a bit inconsistent.

‘A Nihilistic Swarm’ exhibits an agressive, steamroller-ish brand of chaotic death metal which has a lot of influence from the pioneers of the genre. That means a lot of simple, yet effective (to be fair, very effective in some moments) tremolos you could find in most old-school bands. Do you remember the evilness of ‘Lord of All Fevers and Plague’, ‘Into the Storm Of Steel’ (Morbid Angel, Angelcorpse) or the terrifying grind of ‘Reign Forever World’ (Vader)? In this album, we have ‘Ascend’, which does give these classics a run for their money when it comes to sound menacing, oppressive and utterly memorable, as is ‘Fuel for the Flames’. ‘Conquer’ is successful at creating expectative using a pretty banal riff, solid drumwork, and a well-placed, evolving breakdown. All of that in 2:26 minutes. ‘The Swallowing Vortex’ has similar synthesis capacity, showcasing a malevolent, quasi-black metal riff and even a clichéd brutal death metal breakdown. ‘I Am the Dissident’ takes benefit from the overall excellent guitar tone and has some of the best riffs in the album, including one that will be stuck in your head for a moment. The way the riffs are arranged also provides memorability and surprises: Transitions are blunt, setting aside any pointless interludes, pretentiousness, or fancy melodies.

As you can see, the riffwork is the main strength here. However, the drums are responsible for a lot of the appeal of ANS. This album sounds claudicant, pretty much like driving for 50 minutes through a road whose pavement alternates precariousness and regular passages, all of that obviously, in a good way. The excellent blastbeats and double-kick provide a chaotic, messy feel which is simply orgasmic. The simpler rhythms give the flow needed, not sticking only to thrash beats but also march-like drumming and other patters that fit perfectly. Resuming: the drumwork is a rock-solid pillar, almost as important as the guitarwork.

However, the album loses some power at the 9th track, called ‘A Nihilist’. It’s a pretty good track with an unrelenting pace but shows obvious riff recycling: The song pretty much lives on the expense of ‘I Am the Dissident’, just listen to both songs. ‘Collpased Future Visions’ also borrows from ‘Conquer’. If you listen closely, even the first half of the album (which contains the highlights) features some discreet riff borrowing. The album has 17 tracks, so it’s not a surprise there are some weak moments here and there: Good riffs are still present but they aren’t as decided. In fact, sometimes they meander without real focus. ‘Clipped Wings’ just doesn’t take off. ‘Birth’ isn’t necessary.

Still, the first tracks impose a powerful momentum that can definitively carry you through the album. Quality riffs allied with remarkable drumwork and the captivating tumultuous feel make this album well worth it. Although this review uses some scary terms (“blunt”, “chaotic”, “ugly”), ANS is pretty easy to enjoy and understand. Recommended, although the riff recycling detracts from the creativity department.