Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Impaled Nazarene > Nihil > Reviews
Impaled Nazarene - Nihil

My favorite ImpNaz record - aka Mika Luttinen's personal exorcism - 96%

Noise Maniakk, May 21st, 2023

When it comes to black metal, I tend to be a bit of a radical: I either like ultra-raw, bestial, Sarcófago-influenced stuff in the Blasphemy/Beherit/SadX/Revenge vein, or extremely melodic, emotional, Maiden-tinged stuff in the Dissection/Naglfar/Vinterland/Unanimated vein. The stuff in the middle tends to bore me more easily: it's no coincidence that my favorite bands of the True Norwegian Black Metal movement are none other than the original pioneers, such as Darkthrone and Mayhem, and I'm not a huge fan of the followers and the latecomers such as Satyricon - preferring to fixate myself on other regional, more singular takes on that style such as the Swedish, the Finnish or the LLN sound.

Enter Impaled Nazarene, one of the most famous (if not the most famous) Finnish black metal bands ever. During the 90's, they've been endlessly championing the values of primitive, bestial, grinding, punk-laden, ultra-minimalistic black metal, while exhibiting almost GG Allin levels of nihilism, alcoholism, drug use, obscenity, irreverence, antisocial insanity and (self)destructiveness, to the point of almost getting in a quarrel with their Norwegian peers. Albums like "Latex Cult", "Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz" and "Ugra-Karma" speak for themselves, showing the band's deranged, insanely violent, destructive state of mind. I've always considered their vocalist/leader Mika Luttinen to be somewhat of a role model in black metal: in the context of a musical scene which tends to take itself so damn seriously, with each musician attempting to outdo the other in "evilness" and "satanic devotion", blabbering about occult mumbo-jumbo and fairly useless existential questions, Luttinen just worries about drinking, doing drugs, screwing sluts, while waiting for the casual asteroid or nuclear war to annihilate us and, in the meantime, being the scumbag hedonistic individualist he is, with his typical "I don't give a fuck" edgy brand of nihilism in the best Cronos tradition. I can't honestly think of anything more "satanic" than that - without even having to try hard. But there was a time when Mika Luttinen, inadvertently or not, let his weaker, more vulnerable side show off. That time was right around the turn of the millennium, on Impaled Nazarene's sixth album, "Nihil".

"There is a limit, of how much I can take
And swallow all their fucking shite
Then I built a shelter, to protect my thoughts
'cause it is all against me"


Coming off the success of the merciless nuclear metal/punk assault named "Rapture", released back in 1998, the band in their own words decided to make a slightly counterintuitive stylistic 180 in order to escape the accusations of "having gone full-blown punk", leaving any trace of heavy metal behind. So they hired the Finnish guitar hero Alexi Laiho (R.I.P.) of Children of Bodom fame, which had just exploded on the scene at the time with their unmistakable, virtuosic (and, most of all, hugely divisive) hybrid of melodic extreme metal and keyboard-driven power metal. Quite a stretch already, compared to the classic ImpNaz sound. Just to make the band's stylistic shift even more clear: Alexi even brought some old riffage from the Inearthed (pre-CoB) days, which ended up on the "Cogito Ergo Sum" track, perfectly adapting to the band's newer skin. Meanwhile, Mika Luttinen seemed to be having some truly bad shit going on in his personal life, and it's no surprise he tried to channel his state of mind in this new, already quite different material - especially through his unmistakable, trademark lyrics. The result was "Nihil", an album whose title already tells you what you're in for: a more melodic, more accessible, and yet at the same time more negative record. Probably the most nihilistic Impaled Nazarene album ever, indeed - and even the most underrated one, for that matter. An album that makes even "Rapture" or "Suomi Finland Perkele" sound like fun drinking music, by comparison - and that's saying a lot, considering the band's leadership in the realm of bestial, nihilistic, destructive black metal up to that point.

"Painted my world black
Destroyed everything I had
Burnt all the bridges behind
I was prepared to die
Ready for Armageddon
Then nothing came"


Usually ignored and relegated to a mere footnote in Impaled Nazarene's vast discography, "Nihil" is generally remembered only for the controversial reactions it garnered upon its release (culminating in a ban in Germany some years later), especially in relation to the track "Zero Tolerance" - the only well-remembered song from the album, and the only one that feels true to the usual ImpNaz sound, in its aggressive, energetic hardcore punk delivery that doesn't stray too far from the "Rapture" formula (albeit slightly more melodic, especially thanks to Alexi's rapid fire solos - but more on that later), along with its hilariously reactionary lyrics that seem to deliberately ignore the principles of basic biology and homosexual behavior in nature (epitomized by the glorious line "not even in an animal world, male sucks male dick"). But "Nihil" is much more than that: it sees Impaled Nazarene stepping out of their comfort zone, perhaps in an identity crisis that also fortuitously coincided with a new inspirational epiphany - and in doing so, writing their ultimate nihilistic manifesto. It's Impaled Nazarene confronting the melodic extreme metal trend (which during those years had risen to sky-high levels of popularity, supplanting the rawer, more primitive styles of black and death metal) and bending it to their negative, aggressive, uber-pessimistic temperament, especially around the time the album was being made. It's Impaled Nazarene interpreting the trademark Swedish melodic black metal sound better than 99% of all Swedish bands out there (the only exception, of course, being Dissection's first two untouchable masterpieces). And, last but not least, it's Alexi Laiho's crowning jewel in his musical legacy, surpassing everything he's ever done with Children of Bodom: just hear his godlike, ripping solos on "Zero Tolerance", working as perfect "energy channelers" in the second half of the song, releasing all the tension and the momentum built by the riffs during the first half, with a musical prowess I don't happen to hear very often in heavy metal.

"World gone to hell or so they claim
I don't give a fuck, I don't fucking care
I do as I please, I have my own rules
I carry my burn marks, scars really proud
Nothing is sacred in my world
I have no regrets for things I have done
There's nothing new for me under this sun"


So, time to talk about the music in detail, shall we? The riffs, as you may have figured out by now, are definitely more melodic, more influenced by classic heavy/thrash stuff and based on longer, more complex phrases compared to the unhinged minimalism of previous albums - which here seems to survive only on the micro-burst of fury going by the name of "Wrath of the Goat", which wouldn't have been too out of place on "Ugra-Karma", "Suomi Finland Perkele" or "Latex Cult". As stated above, this record dives deep into the Swedish melodic black metal formula, similar to what Immortal did one year prior with their bold experiment "At the Heart of Winter" (notice even the album's production mimicking that harsh, rigid Abyss Studio sound that the Norwegian trio adopted for that record, based on ultra-sharp, thrashy guitars and loud, overpowering drumming). Despite the riffs being more melodic (and even more catchy and memorable, to a certain degree), a fair sense of aggression and antagonism towards the listener is not lost: on the contrary, the melodic touches only give it more weight and power, as exemplified by the main riffs of "Cogito Ergo Sum". And yet, throughout the album, the listener is slowly imbued with a strong feeling of melancholy - almost of malaise, weakness and vulnerability. This feeling is at best expressed in the sardonic, nearly clownish tremolo excursions of "Cogito Ergo Sum" (almost sounding like a straight mockery to the listener), and at worst in the almost painful, heart-wrenching melodies of "Human-Proof" and "Nothing is Sacred" or in the limp, pessimistic, almost "fatalistic" riffing of "How the Laughter Died" (which manages to reach almost pop-levels of catchiness, while at the same time sounding tragically weak and moribund) and "Post Eclipse Era" (probably the most bitter, resentful-sounding track on this cursed record). Even on the more aggressive, straightforward tracks, such as the very thrashy "Angel Rectums Still Bleed - The Sequel" (indeed, the sequel of a very catchy, energetic tune from the previous album), a bitter, fatalistic, almost "tragicomical" flavor can be perceived in the more melodic embellishments - especially during the chorus, with the lyrics leaving no room for further interpretation.

"Fuck all the consequences, can't afford to care"

The lyrics, indeed, seem like the most thorough expression of Mika Luttinen's worldview up to that point. Aside from the more blatantly comedic tracks, these words provide a clearer-than-ever dive into this man's twisted mind. The lyrics of "Nothing is Sacred" really speak for themselves, and "Post Eclipse Era" is a perfect re-affirmation of the man's nihilism and carelessness towards this rotten world, as a response to any disgrace or disappointment life can throw at us all (and I feel like, at the time, he desperately needed to remind himself of such notions). "Human-Proof" sounds like a rabid rejection of any human contact and a desperate cry for help at the same time, thanks especially to the hysterical vocal lines being yelled to exhaustion during the chorus. In short, this is one of those rare albums where music and lyrics truly go hand in hand in painting a perfect picture of negativity, defeatism, resentment and utter hatred towards the world. And we all need an album like that to put on, sometimes: for instance, Cripple Bastards' second album hasn't reached its legendary, cult-like status just by mere accident or sheer luck. I feel like this album should have received the same treatment: it may be less overtly violent and in-your-face than the Italian grinders' more well-known work (or even others ImpNaz albums for that matter), but its emotional weight is undisputed, and I feel like very few proper extreme metal albums manage to truly capture certain feelings with such accuracy. I could go on forever describing how the interweave of melancholic melodies and hateful lyrics on this album can make you feel while listening to it, but I'll just cut short by asserting that, as the tracklist progresses, these tunes drag you down more and more through an obsessive, yet weirdly cathartic pit of pain, bitterness, antisocial spite and inert, passive-aggressive negativity (occasionally bursting into the active type), ruminating more and more over reiterated disappointments and lost hopes; all of this, better than any depressive suicidal black metal band could ever dream of doing.

"When you have painted yourself in the corner
You wish you were a spider so you could escape
No matter how hard you try to ignore
It still has that iron grip around your neck
And the laughter died, torn from me
Piece of me dead, emotionally fucked"


And when you arrive at the bottom of this pit, the album's title-track is there, waiting to consume your soul for good. "Nihil" is a song that truly deserves a paragraph on its own. Carried by a very long, quite technical, somewhat convoluted, yet distinctly melodic main riff, oozing sorrow and woeful melancholy from every single note, this track gets even more miserable and uneasy with its semi-static, almost dissonant riffing during the verses (with Mika Luttinen candidly stating that "by sick fate we are born, they should have used condoms"), then loosening the tension with more relaxed, laid back riffing while coming to a bitter yet necessary realization ("suicide is not a solution, but it remains an excellent option - perhaps the time is ripe to go"). As the song races towards its final climax, Mika utters the most radical of all his statements, yet curiously leaving it incomplete, truncating it with a powerful, excruciated scream. The song stops, then slows down, and Alexi Laiho's last solo carries you towards the end with a somewhat resigned vibe.

"May all deathwishes come now true
And conclude that..." (?)


"Nihil" is much more than a simple black metal album: it's a statement, it's an act of utter catharsis, it's Mika Luttinen's personal exorcism. It's the album most extreme musicians would dream of creating at least once in their career, but very few truly manage to accomplish such a dream. While often being deemed as a mediocre or inconsequential work in the band's discography, it couldn't be further from that: "Nihil" is a milestone for Finland's most famous unit of black/punk terrorists, and after it came out, nothing was the same anymore. As already stated many times in this review, the band had always been known for its furious, nihilistic, destructive musical formula, but it's almost as if this album represented a process of "purification" for them, a hell they had to go through, an exorcism in the true sense of the word - and a first step towards a new, more comfortable, more stable, even more profitable direction. Alexi Laiho left the band shortly after the record was released, to pursue bigger opportunities with Children of Bodom - and just one year later, Impaled Nazarene churned out their immensely popular, yet definitely inferior work "Absence of War Does Not Mean Peace". With that album (which, while still great, didn't live up to any of their previous efforts), the Finnish kings of bestial, fast-paced, nihilistic black metal turned into a fun, headbangable, still politically incorrect yet ultimately tongue-in-cheek, kinda melodic black/thrash/punk act - like a more mainstream, smoothed out, consumer-friendly version of Swedish band Gehennah. The perfect product for Osmose Productions, during the old school metal revival of the early 2000's. While ImpNaz still managed to keep a satisfying, consistent level of quality throughout all their post-2000 works (the latest one, "Eight Headed Serpent", is really damn good and strongly recommended), they never managed to write another nihilistic, utterly destructive masterpiece, capable of holding up compared to their earlier efforts - and especially nothing as genuine and emotionally vulnerable as "Nihil", for sure. Even when they stumbled upon some kind of "depressing" tune in that same vein, they still kept the lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek trademark of their modern formula (a perfect example being "Tribulation Hell", with its suicide-themed lyrics contrasted with a parodic, demented nod to Helloween's "Ride the Sky").

Regardless of its scarce popularity and reputation, I encourage any Impaled Nazarene fan, any Alexi Laiho fan and any melodic black metal fan to check out "Nihil", giving it some more chances if you have already heard it, and letting it grow on you. It's definitely worth it: this album has been a staple of the latest ten years of my life, helping me at many different low points, and it might do the same for you as well. It's always been my personal favorite Impaled Nazarene record (with "Latex Cult" being only a close second), and I consider it to be the crowning jewel of their nihilistic, untamed early era. The album title says everything you need to know about it, and about this amazing band as a whole.

"Everything means nothing, so pervert it all
Time to stop caring, just fuck it all
Nothing means everything, just let it go
Because in the end it means nothing at all"

More melodic, less raw album to start a new way - 84%

CHRISTI_NS_ANITY8, November 15th, 2008

When you have a guitarist like Alexi Laiho in the line up you might be quite sure about what you can find inside the sound. Impaled Nazarene started officially their way to a more mature and speed/thrash influenced sound but this doesn’t mean it’s that good like in the past. If the previous releases, especially the first two, displayed a massive, brutal dosage of punk influenced black metal, the new albums are a bit different structured and conceived.

Since the opener “Cogito Ergo Sum” we can find more melodic lines and a melodic solo. The production is clear and far more polished than in the past, leaving a bit the obscurity path to embrace sharper sounds. The following “Human Proof” has always lead guitar lines under the rhythmic ones and they are more melodic than in the past. Even if the tempo on these songs is not slow, the brutality, that sheer brutality of the first efforts, is not represented that well anymore. Yes, the band is always pissed off in some parts but the things are different.

Maybe the only one who is still on the same way is the singer, Mika, who through his voice is always able to create scenarios from hell. The screams are always very good and black metal oriented. Fortunately “Wrath of the Goat” is furious, on blast beats and it’s very short. The punk/black influences are here again to recreate a vision of hell. “Angel Rectums still Bleed-The Sequel” is faster and shows just some more melodic drops in a sea of brutality. “Post Eclipse Era” is less impulsive in some parts where features darker lines by the guitars; the other sections are full of fast paced restarts.

“Nothing is Sacred” and “Zero Tolerance” are full of that old school style by this band and fortunately the melodic solos by Alexi don’t overwhelm the classic brutality of these compositions. They are not band, even if they are new in this sound and they can be seen as a “betrayal” for the old fans. The fast, pen chords guitars riffage is still present in “Assault of the Weak” but this time the melodic lines are added without a sense, like something that wants to overcome the brutality at all cost. Well, it’s the behaviour of Alexi that follows the same style…

“How the Laughter Died” is doomish for the tempo but the riffs are present and constant. The dissonant riffs are a bit shabby, weak and derivative. The more canonical parts are better even if the progression of this band in terms of songwriting is well displayed also here. “Nihil” is quite good because through the lead lines, the will to create a hellish scenario has been achieved. The tempo is generally faster on this track even if not like in the past. What we hear here is a quite good work by a band that left a bit the old style to embrace more melodic passages.

If the first albums shined for originality, these ones are more “technical” for sure, but here it’s an example of how much the technique doesn’t count that much when you have less ideas. Yes, apart from the new way they chose, this album has less memorable parts and the brutality lacks a bit in some parts. This is the true beginning of a new era for Impaled Nazarene.

How the Laughter Died - 78%

PazuzuZlave, April 13th, 2006

One of the main aspects I’ve always considered Impaled Nazarene a good band comes from this album. The ill-named Finnish act has always delivered fast and fierce music, but this is where they turned all positive sides upside down. Once described in an interview with Mika Luttinen, apparently the year prior to Nihil’s release was not a very good year for him. Among other shitty things, (if I remember correctly) his grandfather died, hence the mood on this album. Gloomy with a perverse twist would be the best word to describe the feeling.

It all kicks off very fast, with “Cogito Ergo Sum” blasting away at hyper speed. Throughout the whole album we’re treated with what the first track offers; fast drumming, clever riffage and awesome vocals. Only a few downpoints make an appearance, and they’re gone before you really notice them. For instance, “Posteclipse Era” goes on for too long. Then, there are the highpoints which stand out clearly. Such a one is “Nothing is Sacred”, which with its controlled but bitter melodies is by far the best song here.

Alexi Laiho (that guy from Children of Bodom) handled the guitar duties for IN back in these days, and you can somewhat figure that out quite easily. Many of his trademark styles suits right into the splendid song material. Speaking of trademark styles, there’s Mika Luttinen who I’ve always considered a kick-ass singer. This guy has a confident way of increasing the pitch of his voice with about 50% over a second. It’s very subtle, but impressive.

If you’re a fan of Impaled Nazarene and still haven’t found the time to hear this amazing album, you should do it as soon as possible. The rest of you might as well check it out, because this album is not a bad point to start if you want to get into the world of melancholic black metal.

Best tracks : Cogito Ergo Sum, Wrath of the Goat, Nothing is Sacred & Assault the weak