If anyone doesn’t know Ghastly Apparition—either from this band or his former outfit Nuclear Desecration—then honestly, there’s nothing more to say. Born in 1990, this young man is delivering darker, filthier, deathier works day by day. After Nuclear Desecration disbanded, he founded Nocturnal Blood, handling all the instruments himself. From the very first demo, it was obvious how deeply soaked in sulfur and rotting flesh this character was. But with this full-length, everything he has done until now becomes one thing, and this album becomes something else entirely—a slap in the face demanding separate respect.
Spanning 7 songs and 26 minutes, this album rightfully holds the title of one of the best of 2010 (so far — although a new Black Witchery album is incoming!). It creates a true cemetery atmosphere, filling the room with a tangible darkness, destruction, and the sensation of death itself. The production is outstanding. Crystal-clear drum sounds, extremely lo-fi yet cleanly played and perfectly comprehensible guitars, adequately present and felt bass, and utterly insane vocals. The brutal vocals simultaneously sound like screaming and hellish, accursed whispers from beyond.
The atmosphere is suffocating and oppressive, occasionally adorned with profoundly sick solos. Although fast sections dominate the songs, slow passages appear here and there, pushing the listener into the merciless embrace of a feeling that makes you think of earth being shoveled over a corpse. With this album, Nocturnal Blood has firmly planted themselves among the leading representatives of this style.
All that remains for us is to coat our ultra-alcoholized bodies in this ode to death, and feel that infinite coldness in eternal damnation. The coldness I’m talking about here is definitely not the shitty Norwegian forests… It’s a coldness that reminds you of kissing a corpse. If you’ve got the balls to do it, of course.