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Nubivagant – The Blame Dagger

nubivagant – the blame dagger

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With three records in exactly four years, you might wonder how much time goes into a 24-hour period for Gionata ‘Omega’ Potenti. Because besides Nubivagant, the multi-instrumentalist maintains an impressive number of other bands and projects. These include Chaos Invocation, Frostmoon Eclipse, Liber Null, Moloch, Deathrow, Cultist and the popular Darvaza. But those who think that quality is compromised thanks to this workaholicism are wrong. Because after the first two excellent records, Potenti delivers another modest gem with ‘The Blame Dagger’. Just as the albums’ covers match seamlessly, so it is musically. This third album is therefore a more than obvious and logical follow-up to ‘Roaring Eye’ (2020) and ‘The Wheel And The Universe’ (2022).

With each subsequent record, Potenti’s musical vision for Nubivagant gets more spread out, detailed, and refined. The band’s unique sound gets further perfected, each step is one closer to fully fusing with the spirit of the band. Nubivagant is an edjective derived from Latin meaning something like “cloud walker”. Listening to this one-man operation hence definitely feels like a journey on Captain Potenti’s airship; walking through gently drifting clouds is certainly not a mis-chosen metaphor.

While some tracks on ‘The Blame Dagger’ still have some bite in the form of a firmer pace, like the rocking up-tempo opening track or the first moments of ‘Who Made The World?’, the overall character of the album has quite a mellow character. The dream-like state of the album blends seamlessly with Potenti’s angelic almost androgenic clean vocals, subsequently adding much to the doomy and gloomy feel of the record. And that is also exactly where Nubivagant’s strength lies: the unique blend of Post Black Metal characteristics with Indie Rock accents on the same foundation on which Atmospheric Black Metal is founded. In the unlikely event that you haven’t heard the previous two albums, it’s best to imagine how any random but very gifted Atmospheric Black Metal band would perform a cover of Placebo – including the feminine vocals so typical of Brian Molko.

The downside of an album like this, which is very solidly put together and where the songs fit well with each other and even the albums do not differ much from one another, is that it becomes a bit repetitive. Although the album clocks in at less than 40 minutes, it is still a ride that strings itself together without any real standouts. Although the sparse moments where Potenti pushes the throttle a bit or even throws in a Black Metal scream, the music also instantly gains some substance and general recognition. But Nubivagant’s unique sound is something to cherish; in a musical constellation where you may think everything has already been done once, Captain Potenti invites you into his airship for a walk through the clouds.

Nubivagant

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