Album Review: Nebrus – Exta Malorvm (Razed Soul Productions)

This is the year where death & black metal has poked its heads above the parapets looking to get noticed again with exciting & fresh takes on the sound (as well as the occasional throwback to sweeten the palette). It’s been a year filled with amazing quality from the extreme side of metal, bands like Netherbird, Sahg, Venom Prison, Waldgefluster, Oathbreaker, Winterfylleth, Nuerosis…to name a few.

With expectations so high anything found lacking just isn’t going to be good enough. Thankfully Nebrus’s new album doesn’t have that to worry about. It’s a 45 minute trip into the bleakest of wildernesses, one that has a constant oppressive air as if the very earth you walk on wants rid of you.

The horror movie stylings of the intro (Exta Malorvm I) is in sharp contrast to the raw sound that echos from the songs that follow. It has an old school black metal vibe about it but it feels less like a throwback & more like a respectful nod. It’s use of melody is subtle, backing up the intense & grinding beats on songs like Relaying on Madness.

A taste for the darker, more intense black metal is needed here as the vocals are consistently brutalising your ears & its tempo rarely changes to anything softer than face-ripping. In fact the only time you get a reprieve is during the ‘Exta Malorvm’ pieces of music. Well spaced out they offer moments to catch your breath with ambient sounds, soft chanting & the subtly of a killer approaching his unaware victim.

It’s really well done stuff especially when songs like Aphotic Path follow one of these pieces. The weight of this song is almost unbearable, it’s pure evil tones & guttural snarls conjuring up imagery that borders on the depraved (this album makes a great soundtrack to a Clive Barker novel). No matter how much you want to tear yourself away, you just can’t. It’s almost hypnotic.

The intense double header of Death Parade & Exta Malorvm III finishes things off with devastatingly intense music. It’s like a bolt to head but one you’re more then happy to go back & experience again.

Full Track Listing:

1. Exta Malorvm I
2. Dismal Omen
3. Relaying on Madness
4. Havoc Emissary
5. Exta Malorvm II
6. Aphotic Path
7. Psalm of Abhorrence
8. Death Parade
9. Exta Malorvm III

We would like to thank Nebrus & FullBlast! PR for providing us with a copy of the album for this review.

Exta Malorvm is out on Nov 4th, 2016 & can be ordered over on the Nebrus Bandcamp page. You can check out some of the bands music on their Youtube Channel as well as find out more on their Facebook Page.