Throughout this journey of life, the search towards knowledge becomes euthanized within us, where wisdom becomes defined by others adorned in their vestments, carrying spit and piss upon their tongues that they call the “word.” And unto the masses, we become soaked in their reveries, while lips caress their symbols and voices echo to their crescent moon and star. Yet whenever a soul decides that its own melody resonates naught with their cacophony, a heretic, an infidel, is born, cast out and scorned like a leper whose days become numbered. And for what? For the simple questioning of what lies beyond pages that are bound to fallacy, to choose naught the path of sheep, but instead to submit the soul to the pyres of truth rather than become a martyr for false prophets? A deep-seated emotion manifests, more virulent than hate, and yet it is through this inverse of joy, where a soul may uncover its path to salvation, even if salvation arrives in the laboured breath of one who worships the false light.
‘Infernal Inferno’ from Nail by Nail represents the inversion of that which is pious, for its very spirit invites challenge. For when the mind coalesces with its sound, like that of wind through a reed, a unique melody is released, a melody fashioned by one and only one, naught muddied by others, a melody of harmony through resistance. Forged in the contemptuous sounds of Black Metal, where sound ceases to be merely music, but rather becomes a weapon, and sharing a similar shape to bands such as Darvaza, Theotoxin, and Marduk, Nail by Nail forges a blade that serrates the spurious tongue.
As time goes on and our very core becomes hardened by the woes and tribulations of life, we yearn for a change, naught to prostrate ourselves beneath a cross to be fed a Eucharist of false hope, nor to face the qibla and recite incoherent ramblings, but rather for a change that will cleanse the soul, awaken the dormant beast that once beheld the splendour of our own spirit, and rekindle the cluster of stars within our own skies. From the essence of hate and ecstasy, we recite our own hymns, blasphemous to others, yet holy to us alone.
Revelatory in their manifestation, the strings arrive, for even though, tonally, they are “harsh”, there exists a tranquility within their vehemence, as though when the vitriol is expelled, its lingering lull becomes the peace. The guitars display this in a juxtaposed motion, where their spirit shifts from sombre to convulsive, varying throughout the album. Though to another this may seem formulaic, Nail by Nail achieves it in a dialogic manner, where speech undergoes a transformation, the tongue becoming unbridled, lashing with every movement, and words betwixt peace and hostility being uncovered.
Unto these songs, the production imbues the strings with a serrated, metallic dissonance, where the mere scraping of the strings can be felt, as though you can taste the metal that peels away from every riff. However, Nail by Nail does not merely rely upon the crudeness of the strings to support the album. Instead, it molds them, where during the more sombre sections, their impact becomes more concentrated and prominent, as heard on ‘Katharsis’, where the patterns become emotive during their slower-paced moments, especially in the intro, where the riffing slows down, giving way for the drums to exist within its punctuation. Even in the more mid-tempo section, where the same riff increases in speed, it still manages to remain tranquil, especially when shaded by the secondary riffing that fleshes out its sound.
However, its motion is not solely defined by its crawling moments. Tracks such as ‘Ride the Beast’ and ‘Blades of Perdition’ use their bitter tone, coupled with their feverish speed, to craft undulating patterns, rising upwards and crashing in a similar fashion to the cadence of the drums. This writhing movement becomes a rather palpable experience, where the riff coils closer and closer, as though it resides within the core of one’s breath. You can feel it swelling and moving.
Through catharsis, we become remade, we are reborn, casting aside that which is inferior, for no longer is the consciousness bound to tongues that melt like wax. No longer do we digest the doctrines bred between piss and shit. For when we emerge from this chrysalis, our senses evolve. We transcend mere experiences, but at the same time appreciate the minuscule proportions of such. We discern our own hearts pounding, timing their pulsations, feeling their rhythm, and with closed eyes, we hone in on our own senses, filling the nostrils, feeling the rise and fall of the breast. For now, our own rhythm becomes recalibrated, for we follow not the rhythm of self-proclaimed messiahs. Instead, the only beat that is heard becomes the drums that herald our own awakening.
Complementing the serpentine structures of the vocals and guitars, the drums become the reverberation of their expelled energy, where their pounding cadence infuses itself into the foundation of every note, mimicking its shape. ‘Blades of Perdition’, while I believe it is a song that attests to the harmonious nature of all the musical elements working in tandem, while also showcasing their entrancing quality, allows the drumming to stand out. While the song is quite melodic, the drumming grants a sense of density to the spiralling guitars.
As above, so below, the guitars soar, while the drumming burrows itself into the soundscape in a thunderous and robust fashion, where every strike feels as though it is shaping the atmosphere according to its own vehemence. Even the drum fills that ride the crescendo and branch into a slow-paced rhythm become a trait that spreads into other tracks, such as during the midsection of ‘Above the Black Tower’.
Verily, when our emotions take root, naught to be quelled or tempered, but rather allowed to flow like blood within the veins, our tongues loosen, and that which was shunned is spoken as truth, while that which is true challenges and opposes. For no longer do our lips speak the feculence of Psalms. Instead, our tongues transform into whips, where truth becomes the lash that welts the skin, flaying the flesh of prevarication.
An equilibrium is employed through the vocals, where, through their abrasive register, they are able to convey a sense of repose within their voice. For like the guitars, where it is in the slower moments that their qualities are showcased, so too is it with the vocals. Tracks such as ‘Katharsis’ and ‘The Valley of Sorrow’ utilize these moments, where the vocals are able to enunciate exactly what is being said, rendering a sense of audibility to their resonance. But their captivating quality arrives not from the ability to hear what is being said, but rather from the use of these moments, dissecting them so that the inflection and rawness are felt in a magnified way.
For example, during the song ‘The Valley of Sorrow’, the words are repeated, “Bury me, please bury me, Bury me, envelop my world with silence”. This morsel, I would argue, represents the zenith of the vocals, where within passages such as this, the vocals display a caustic sound, where a concoction of melancholy and anguish is released from the soul into the voice. In turn, a human element is brought to the surface.
Conversely, the countenance shifts but retains the same essence, where the vocals change their shape into something more vehement, yet still organic in their motion. On tracks such as ‘Into the Dragons Mouth’, the vocals arrive in a more unchained manner, flaying and convulsing, rather confrontational in their energy. A notable duality that showcases the vocals in a different skin comes forth in the guest appearance from Omega (Darvaza, Nubivagant), where the clean vocals render the harsh vocals in a different shade, both umbral and penumbral, yet cohesive together.
In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, it states, “Whose unbelieving minds the god of this world hath blinded, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them”. The essence of Nail by Nail transfigures itself into the fire that cauterizes the eyes, freeing them from lecherous light, for true vision requires naught the eyes to see. Rather, the melodies become the guiding hand that ushers the senses to discern truth from lies secreted from impotent tongues. And unto the soul, a lake of fire lies beneath it, for it is only through submersion that what is false will return to embers, and that which is true will become an inferno of the hearth.
