Beyond the Light

I'm not entirely sure how Nae'blis managed to get the depressive black metal label. This isn't a sad album, not really. It's emotional, yes, but the way in which it is handled is very similar to Sigur Rós; an exploration of the melancholy through beauty alone. Nae'blis is certainly able to craft music, but the atmosphere and emotion always feels a little vapid. There's not much convincing here despite the above average quality of the music.

I guess the main problem I have with Beyond The Light is that it's just not dark. Half of these melodies are positively joyous and thus prevents the music as a whole from creating a depressive mood. The keyboards are the main culprit, again like Sigur Rós they're very prominent, yet they're never obtrusive, being tender and gentle as opposed to ominous and eerie. The keyboards become the main driving force of this album often enough, so much so that I do wonder why Nae'blis didn't release this as a purely ambient album. After all, he does seem to favor that side of the spectrum.

Now don't get me wrong though, by no means do I think the strong keyboard presence is a negative. One of my favorite bands is Lustre and they're pretty notorious for having songs that are entirely keyboard oriented. But the difference between Lustre and Nae'blis, is that Lustre's use of keyboards actually remained interesting throughout. It doesn't matter about the lack of distinctive riffs with Lustre because the keyboards more than make up for it. The problem with Nae'blis is that, for the most part, the keyboards aren't interesting, and neither are the guitars for the matter. What we get with this is an album that feels very awkward and unsure of what it wants to be. At times the ambiance is styled similar to Paysage d'Hiver, where the keys create an ethereal shimmering over the fazed out guitars. At other times, the keyboards are quiet, gentle and tender, once again bringing to mind Sigur Rós.

As much of this album is keyboard oriented it is easy to forget the guitars (even for Nae'blis apparently). The guitars don't really do anything of note, for the most part they serve as a backdrop for the ambiance. There's the occasional uptempo melody, but for the most part the use of guitars is more akin to Lustre or Paysage d'Hiver than Hypothermia or Trist. However, Nae'blis manages to throw a few surprises in, the riff that pops up about the 3 minute mark in the second song I Cry is very powerful. There's a lot of undiscovered potential to be found on Beyond The Light, Nae'blis just needs to spend more thought into making each of the instruments sound interesting, because when he is on, boy he really is on. I Close My Eyes To The World and ...and I Shall Exist No More are both stunning tracks that seem to represent two sides of the same coin. I Close My Eyes To The World is a purely black metal oriented track with a powerful atmosphere of profound melancholy, whilst ...and I Shall Exist No More plays more with the ambient side of things, and it isn't until near the end that we get traces of black metal thrown in.

Beyond The Light is a rather tough album to critique, for every good moment Nae'blis presents the listener with, there's some not so good moments as well. Whilst the music itself is rather good, it's just not THAT good, which I personally believe is the fundamental flaw of Nae'blis. There's no stand out moments, and whilst everything is as it's should be, the music never does anything I wouldn't expect it to. It's all very comfortable within its own niche that all semblance of musical exploration was thrown out the window. Perhaps I'm being too harsh. This album isn't awful, truly it's not. It's actually quite beautiful at times but it can get repetitive. I have similar problems with the newest Alcest album, where the atmosphere is good initially but soon wears off. Thankfully though, Beyond The Light contains several stand out moments, including the ones I've already mentioned and the surprisingly catchy line in Serene Fury.

If you've read this far, then you should already have a good idea of whether you want to give this a go or not. I'm currently sat on the fence with this one, though leaning towards enjoying it. Beyond The Light certainly has some moments of melancholic beauty yet overall the music is far too safe and comfortable to make much of a connection to. Not bad for what is, but has a lot of rough edges that need sanding.

Whenever I see a band tagged as being ‘atmospheric’ black metal, I simply cannot help myself. I MUST check them out. So of course, when the name Nae’Blis dropped into my lap, I looked them up out of sheer curiosity and to my delight, they were given this tag. The band photo also intrigued me, which is not uncommon. I like photography and although black metal band pictures can become somewhat clichéd, for example, a man standing in a dark long since forgotten room in a black and white photo, I find it appealing. The sense of loneliness from the photo is projected very well and I like that.


It’s something that strikes me as being artistic, although a little clichéd, as I said. Obviously, music isn’t a bout having an appealing photo, but it helps. The feeling of loneliness is something that must be projected on to the instruments, as well as through the photo. People sometimes suggest that these photos are somewhat ridiculous, but I say, would it not be more ridiculous to have a black metal musician standing in a multi-coloured room, wearing bright clothes and smiling happily? Sure, it might be funny, but the ideology behind this type of black metal isn’t to do with happiness. If anything, it’s the exact opposite, in terms of feeling, that one is hoping to see.


Nae’Blis have established themselves as quite the act. Another one man band, which seems to becoming the norm these days, from sunny Sweden. The reputation of this band was formed on the basis of the debut, ‘Beyond The Light’, but the majority of the praise was issued at ‘Sketches Of Reality’, which has been known as a modern day masterpiece by some. Nae’Blis began recently, but as I’ve already stated, the reputation of the band is very healthy and on the basis of the material we’ve been issued with, the reputation will continue to grow with a bit more promotion.


Thus the reason I am writing this review. So, with black metal’s eyes fixated on bands like Forgotten Tomb, or Shining, both of whom released critically acclaimed albums last year, Nae’Blis might find themselves struggling to reach it’s head above the water. Although, as I said, the reputation of the band is healthy, competition amongst black metal bands is even healthier. New acts and old acts all seem to be aiming for their slice of the pie and Nae’Blis, with the release of this record, ‘Beyond The Light’, can add themselves to that list too.


So, one may be asking what makes Nae’Blis so positively received? Well, there are a number of reasons. As with most black metal acts, most of the positive reactions centre around the use of the guitars. Black metal is nothing without guitars. Atmosphere is derived from the guitars in this particular industry and atmosphere is very important to black metal bands. Those with striking atmospheric tendencies are more well noticed and thus, are given more recognition for their talents. Nae’Blis are no different in the sense that they make the guitars central to proceedings. It’s like your living room. Every item in it points towards the television and this is no different.


Everything moulds itself around the guitars and the atmosphere the guitars creates like a snake wraps itself around it’s prey. The atmosphere, like a snake, sucks the air out of you due to it’s beauty, in terms of this album. The high pitched guitars are imperative in doing this. The higher textures and tones of the guitars create a stunning portrayal of the lyrical themes. Whilst the vocals aren’t the best I’ve heard, they do the job. Like most elements about Nae’Blis, they play second best to the guitars anyway, so there isn’t much focus on the vocals.


In addition to the guitars, the atmospheric nature of this album is also reliant on the synthesizers. These add depth to the soundscapes, which usually tend to sway towards the depressive side of music. Nae’Blis have been known as a depressive black metal band as well as being known as an atmospheric band. I tend to sway more towards recognising them as an atmospheric band simply because the music is heavily reliant on the atmosphere to drive the music forwards. Whatever sub-genre this band fits in to, the music is emotive enough to affect the mood of the audience, without a doubt. The guitars and synthesizers are key in doing this.


Whilst the drums are programmed, as the previous reviewer mentioned, the patterns are varied. Blast beats are used from time to time, but they don’t reach the heights that the most noteworthy instruments reach. In many ways, the drums aren’t pivotal to the bands sound, like the vocals. Some may consider this fact disappointing, but the vocals are usually meant to act as a melody for the music to follow and this is what occurs. Despite that, this is a decent record with some strong material. People mustn’t overlook this record even though the second album is judged as being better.

With the release of the latest book in Robert Jordan's fantasy saga "The Wheel Of Time" last year, I went on an epic quest to collect any and all Wheel Of Time-themed metal out there due to my unhealthy obsession with the aforementioned books. Although there is a depressing lack of music relating to these brilliant novels, what exists is mostly quite good. The obscure DSBM act from Sweden known as Nae'Blis is no exception, and the CD I was able to track down is made of something just short of pure win, and one should expect no less from the multitalented musical genius that is Magnus Wolfhart.

Atmospheric depressive suicidal black metal is a funny, relatively unknown little subgenre, comprised of veritable hordes of shitty bedroom black metal acts, and with very few releases even being worth the CD-R's they're burned to. Occasionally, though, one manages to stumble upon the rare album that truly captures what the music is aimed at - hatred, suicidal depression, an all-encompassing misanthropy, and just a general sense of apathy and cold, passive fury. Beyond The Light is one such album.

With Nae'Blis, Wolfhart manages to do what so few bands seem to be capable of - putting together a DSBM release that actually feels depressive, while maintaining a reasonable degree of listenability. Beyond The Light epitomizes the DSBM genre, and also manages to progress it at the same time by throwing in a symphonic touch on top of all else in spite of the rawness of the recording. Wolfhart handles all the instrumental duties commendably, and demonstrates an impressive degree of proficiency on guitar as well - another rarity in the genre. As is to be expected, there is a complete absence of shred or self-indulgent displays of technicality here, but his talent lies in the writing of the music itself. While not overly-complicated, the riffs, coupled with the expert synthwork, do well and create an atmosphere of hopeless depression, overpowered only by the resultant hatred for all things living. The bizarre neoclassical influences are also a nice touch, and really add a lot to some of the songs, most noticeably "I Cry", which is easily the highlight of this album.

Unfortunately, the bass seems to be completely programmed, as with the drums. The former, though, is inexcusable. Wolfhart is an accomplished bassist, and what is found here is the result of pure laziness. The same bassline plays throughout each track, without exception other than in its absence, and as a result, is almost completely negligible. The drum programming is a pleasant surprise, though. Unlike many other DSBM acts, the programming here is varied (although the careful listener will no doubt pick up on the occasionally-repeated loops). There are even some blastbeats thrown in, which, oddly, do not clash with the rest of the music. All in all, the drum programming is quite commendable, and doesn't fall into the same trap of over-the-top-ness that is all-too-common with one-man bands of late.

The only major downfall that Beyond The Light suffers from is the subpar production quality. While a degree of rawness is often an unfortunate necessity, and occasionally a nice artistic touch, Nae'Blis is atmospheric music. Production quality is everything with such music, and a raw sound can only diminish the effectiveness of the music in creating the desired atmosphere. I personally don't understand why such a mediocre recording job was done here - Wolfhart owns his own recording studio, and he's proven with his other projects that he's capable of putting out crystal clear albums. The vocals, while definitely audible, take no small amount of effort to understand, and there's just a general aura of fuzziness throughout the whole CD. Very bad choice.

Despite its failings (few though they may be), Nae'Blis's debut album is a spectacular piece of art, and a definite rarity in its genre. I highly recommend this release to anyone with an interest in DSBM.