Album Review: Nixil – From the Wound Spilled Forth Fire (Prosthetic Records)

Recent Prosthetic Records signees Nixil are preparing to embark on the next chapter of their existence with their sophomore album, From the Wound Spilled Forth Fire, due out on August 25th. The Baltimore, Maryland group’s second full-length treads a spiritual path toward liberation through abyssal exploration, from the microcosmic to the macrocosmic.

Black metal that is liable to give you existential crisis, Nixil are a revelation in dark and dramatic metal. Where harsh sounds collide with experimental delights and excessive heaviness. From the first track to the very last track, Nixil stretches the mind to near-breaking point through an emphatic cacophonous experience. It is downright brilliant because of how imaginative and clever it is.

Featuring six tracks, but each an individual tome of grand and grotesque creativity, Nixil drag the listener down into deep and dark depths with the opening horror-laden starkness of Collapsing the Poles. Instrumentally wild and complex, vocally punitive, and raw through and through. It’s an experience that sets the bar for the ‘hard to grasp’ wonders that this album has to offer throughout.

A bar that is immediately surpassed with the thrilling In Thrall. A track that beats the mind in submission through a whirlwind showcase of crashing guitars, drums, and howling vocals. The initial lack of discernible rhythm transforming into something that even has head-banging qualities. The halfway point of the album then reached with the gargantuan sound of A Door Never Closed. Nixil drawing more melody and misery out of their wicked sound for something that leaves a deep impression. One of the best tracks of the entire album.

Although any track could take that crown as Nixil are such an inventive bunch, the album never stops being a fascinating listen. As the title track arrives with grand blackened aplomb, Nixil continue to find new depths to explore. Shining a light into the murkiness to expose wonders where there were none before.

With plenty of speed and furious intent, Abyss Unto Abyss is one of the more manic tracks on the album. One that shows some of those old-school black metal influences clearly, but still features an array of imaginative twists and turns. Before this triumphant album closes out with The Way is the Grave. An enormous finale that finds Nixil in a wicked mood, having drawn the listener to pits not explored before, they now reveal that they don’t plan to let us leave.

Enjoy your stay.

Nixil – From the Wound Spilled Forth Fire Track Listing:

1. Collapsing the Poles
2. In Thrall
3. A Door Never Closed
4. From the Wound Spilled Forth Fire
5. Abyss Unto Abyss
6. The Way is the Grave

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