Album Review: Estuarine – Nyarlathotep (Self Released)

Tampa, Florida-based experimental/technical blackened deathgrind unit Estuarine strikes again with Nyarlathotep. A concise 8-song offering clocking in at just under 10 minutes that loosely flows together as one piece of music. Set for release on March 19th 2021.

Estuarine comments:

Nyarlathotep is the new Estuarine EP, recorded during the 2020 quarantine. Lyrically the EP is a concept album loosely based on H.P. Lovecraft’s Nyarlathotep short story detailing the return of Nyarlathotep, the mediator between man and god who is responsible for earth’s chaos. Musically the album focuses on short, intense songs, returning to my grindcore and power-violence roots while retaining the dense atmospheric layering and unorthodox technicality that I’ve incorporated into my sound in later years.

You don’t often get 8-track albums that only last about 10 minutes. Such is the chaotic nature of Estuarine, there’s no way it could have been any other way. Like a forceful expulsion of vomit, it just keeps coming and coming in a seemingly never-ending stream. Then, as the sickness passes and things settle, a sense of peace is reached.

That’s Nyarlathotep, a chaotic and madness-inducing number that certainly embodies its loose inspirations. The wackiness of blackened grind, technical speed and experimentation that will confuse most is one of the more unique things heard this year.

That all but two songs come in at less than a minute makes this a constant sharp assault. Only the first track, Crawling Chaos and finale of Planes of Rotting Creation see fit to draw the suffering out. The latter is actually around 3 minutes long and easily the most rhythmic of the bunch as the chaos is dropped in favour of something more beat-led. It’s still weird as hell though.

It’s hard to say just who this will appeal to. It’s covering so many genres in such a sort amount of time, it’s not easy to pinpoint a fan base. The best way to find out if it’s your jam is to stick it on. After all it’s only 10 minutes long.

Estuarine – Nyarlathotep Full Track Listing:

1. Crawling Chaos
2. Carriers of Shadow
3. Prophecy Denial
4. Hooves of Oblivion
5. Bloody-Nubbed Exile
6. Broken Subordinates
7. The Audient Void
8. Planes of Rotting Creation

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