Swedish one-man-project Nidafjällen delivers a bewitching debut demo that has been captivating me for months now. ‘Evig Stillhet’ crawls under your skin, creeps up your nerve pathways, attaches itself to your brain stem and starts oozing its cold bitterness over your psyche and body. I catch myself unconsciously putting the demo on repeat, at home, whilst commuting, through my headphones.
‘Evig Stilhett’ combines, in addition to a more than decent production, aggression, bitter melancholy, an arctic atmosphere and interweaves all this in long, drawn-out songs. The strength of Nidafjäll’s Raw Black Metal lies in the simplicity of the repetitiveness. Slight variations in pace, little adjustments in riffing and drum patterns keeps boredom at bay and drags you into this trance-inducing maelstrom from which it is extremely difficult to escape. ‘I Mörkret…’ is definitely the track to check out first as it combines all the qualities mentioned above, even though the song is ten minutes long, it seems like it’s still ten minutes short.
As winter creeps inland, the night air heavy with the smell of firewood, Nidafjällen’s ‘Evig Stillhet’ might be the perfect companion to accompany you through the dark hours of the winternights to come.
