Nidafjällen – Evig Stillhet

Nidafjällen, much like the band I reviewed earlier in the week, seems to be somewhat of a recluse online. While I have been able to pick up bits and pieces of information about this Swedish Raw Black Metal band (such as the before-mentioned genre and the fact that it is a solo project), for the most part they seem content to let their music to the talking – Which is, as I have claimed before in my opinion, a viable means of doing so, as well as very on brand for an entity setting out to recapture the glory days of early Second Wave Black Metal. 

The first release carries the title Evig Stillhet (Swedish for ‘Eternal Quiet’) which, regardless of the title, in fact contains a grand total of four heavily distorted, barely contained tracks of Scandinavian aggression made manifest (as much as an auditorial medium can be in this digital day and age). And while each track seems to be their own self-contained experience varying in length from between seven and ten minutes, the overall feel across the entire performance remains the same – Namely a reemergence of the early Black Metal acts from the region, such as Dark Funeral and to a lesser exent, Bathory; Even if they have done away with the satanic messages of the former in lieu of a more subdued, earthly approach. To name an example, two of the tracks are named “I Mørkret…” (‘In The Darkness’) and “Under Månens Sken” (‘In The Moonlight’), a stylistic and lyrical choice that I personally fit the band well and helps it form its own identity while still paying homage to those that came before. 

All in all I am a bit split about whom to recommend this record to – While it clearly has strong roots in the genre and hence should appeal to old-school fans of the genre, it likewise introduces just enough new material for it to also have a potential pull with modern era fans (the clean mixing being a dead give-away that it is a more recent release as well). 

So, probably the safest bet would be to recommend it to fans of Black Metal as a whole, and urge people to give the thirty-eight minutes long YouTube-video below a digital spin. 

I for one did not regret it. 

https://nidafjallen.bandcamp.com/album/evig-stillhet