Enoid – Ô Nuit, emporte​​​-​​​moi !

From Lausanne, Switzerland hails another one-man black metal band going under the moniker of Enoid. The reason why I call Enoid for a ‘band’ rather than a ‘project’ is because of its longevity and long service to the black metal scene. Ô nuit, emporte-moi ! is Enoid’s ninth full-length album! It’s been released earlier this year via Swiss-based Necroeucharist Productions. It comes as a limited two-color (black & white) edition of 100 cassette pieces, with and the six-sided sleeve.

The mastermind behind this project is the musician Bornyhake, who brought it to life back in 1996. Yet I wasn’t quite sure what to expect to hear on this seven-tracker (with a running time of almost 38 minutes) cassette edition, other than it was a piece of black metal from Helvetia. To my surprise, it is an uncompromising and pure old-school black metal, containing the perfect blend of hatred and aggression. The music is carried by an epic and apocalyptic atmosphere through synth effects and with a quite few impressive and catchy melodies. It leads us to the guitars – where I hear some excellent melodies and riffs that are layered into their otherwise crushing and ferocious black metal sonic assault. Vocally, Bornyhake brings nasty and diabolical screams, while the beautiful synths are laying foundation for the whole sound. The songwriting is sprawling and production is rich and enables all details to be heard clearly and where nothing gets lost in the background.

The only thing that some black metal purest might dislike is the atmosphere which at times is more rich and epic than cold. It’s not necessary a big issue and overall it was an honour to review a piece of one-man black metal that is perfectly written and composed. Other than the atmosphere, I believe most pure worshippers of black metal will embrace this album, since it has all the ingredients that made early 90’s black metal so unique and brilliant. The greatest compliment I can give to Enoid is to say that each song from Ô nuit, emporte-moi ! has its own identity and the listener is protected from monotonous, repetitive and boring passages. One can definitely hear that this one-man army from Switzerland has many years of experience, something one can hear in every riff and every tone recorded. Since Ô nuit, emporte-moi ! is band’s ninth album, leaving much of his ealier work to check out.

Enoid/Bornyhake has been active in the black metal scene for so long for a reason. Thus, my advise for fans of Gehenna, Shining, Mayhem, Tsjuder, Xasthur, Setherial, Wigrid, Urgehal, Sargeist etc. is not to hesitate to order your copy of this latest opus filled with a terrorizing fury and inexorable brutality.

For further information on the release, follow https://enoid.bandcamp.com/album/nuit-emporte-moi