Heretoir – Nightsphere
Release Date: 6th October 2023
Label: Self Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Post-Black Metal, Shoegaze, Atmospheric Black Metal.
FFO: Alcest, Lantlôs, Amesoeurs.
Review By: Andy Spoon
German post-black marauders Heretoir release Nightsphere, their third studio album, on October 6th, 2023. Blending melodic atmospheric post-rock clean segments with the heaviness of tormented, poetic extreme metal, Nightsphere packs 5 tracks into 42 minutes, all having extremely-long run times and meandering riffs that seem to contain multiple tracks in each respective track, lending to a cohesive and well-constructed effort that ought to entice post-black fans with the dark moodiness that fans of the genre are absolutely looking-for.
Going from slow to fast is one of the hallmarks of the album, giving the sensation of the ebbs and flows of the material of the album. There are multiple distinct vocal styles that are employed to give a different artistic voice to parts of each track that enhances the overall vibe of that specific portion. I was impressed that the styles seemed to match the melodic atmosphere in each part, never sounding distinctly out of touch with the overall “mood”. This is something that I have found, in other records, to be a point of great achievement, as it’s extremely easy to alienate the listener with something small that could be out of touch.
Obviously, there is a clean vocal element that is shrouded in reverb. It was often followed by a second, more-angsty, hardcore-type vocal that seemed to have a nasal, gritty texture. Then, in parts where the music dug into the death/black metal segments, I was treated to the higher-intensity vocals that I expect from those genres. It’s not melodic black metal, nor is it melodeath. Calling it post-death or post-black is much more accurate. Quite a few bands fail to achieve the actual post-black sound, relying on one or two blast beats to try and differentiate a hard-rock album from a post black album. I think that Heretoir is the real deal, however.
I think that there are segments of the tone and melody that remind me of An Abstract Illusion, the owner of my AOTY for 2022. If you are someone who enjoys the tonal variation and tidal flow expressed in 2022’s Woe, you will probably appreciate Heretoir’s effort on this album to create the same type of heaviness that bears the intended emotional content to such a degree. I think that those two bands will share a significant amount of fans.
Lyrical themes in the music are existential dread, the misanthropic principle of humans vs. nature, and the loathing of the superficial, something that tends to be a fabulous-fit for the dark and depressive melodic content of the album. I think that people who tend to feel like there is a great deal of failure on the part of humanity would generally enjoy some of the content, specifically in the track Twilight of the Machines, a track which the band describes as being inspired by Stanley Diamond’s book In Search of the Primitive: A Critique of Civilization. If you tend to enjoy content that gives commentary on the misanthropic, you would probably appreciate the depth of the poetry on the album.
Overall, the album felt like a short listen, something that isn’t common among post-black albums. However, I wasn’t immediately ready to spin it again. It needs to settle in your mood, as the album’s pace and overall tone is broody and melancholic, obviously by choice. There aren’t a lot of moments that make me look back and say, “I need to hear that part again!”. I think that’s the difference between Nightsphere and Woe. I feel like it’s excellent atmosphere music, but there isn’t anything that makes me desperately excited. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; it’s just that the album lends itself more to atmosphere than its message. I think that this is an album that is absolutely worth a listen.
(3.5 / 5)
