Nibelheim
Drawing The Lines...

"Drawing The Lines", literally translated as "tracing the lines". This is the new album (actually a DEMO) that I am about to review.

The Nibelheim are a completely Italian reality; a reality devoted to a really violent and "cold" thrash-death.

The CD artwork (really very beautiful) initially puzzled me a bit. Completely white, it features a faceless woman in the foreground and a forest in the background. From the logo and the album cover, I didn’t know whether to expect yet another gothic or black group. Instead, the surprise. Yes, because Nibelheim are the new "female-fronted thrash death metal band hailing from Italy" (as described on their Myspace).

"Drawing The Lines" is a concept album. A concept centered on the band's human desire to forge and assert their identity and, therefore, the start of a journey. At least that's what the guys describe in their biography. And, all things considered, I must say they do it very well.

The album consists of 4 tracks. The opener is an intro where you hear a woman panting in the throes of her nightmares ("Nightmarish Revelation"). A very disturbing intro that paves the way for the next "Dancers Of God", the most beautiful track on the album as it alternates typical thrash explosions with very violent and fast riffs with more calm and reflective moments (the central break is so beautiful and evocative it gives you chills). Stefania Salladini puts all her effort into unleashing her anger. Anger that is all contained in the phrase "I tried to tell the truth, but words froze on my lips" ("ho provato a dire la verità, ma le parole si sono congelate sulle mie labbra"). As the band themselves say, it is in this phrase that the sense of the concept is enclosed, as it is the phrase that the woman heard in her nightmare, triggering a whole series of considerations and making her wake up not only physically but also mentally. Worth mentioning is the splendid solo provided by the guitar duo Andrea Giordano and Luca Pavone. A guitar duo that never disappoints, at any moment and/or instant.

Returning to the story... it resumes where the girl realizes, once awake, that she had been just a puppet in the hands of someone "not better defined." And it is here the third track, "Your World / My Prison," kicks in, representing a sort of flashback narrating the protagonist's past life, from birth to the moment of realization. The realization of the imprisonment ("Maybe I can see nothing, or maybe I can see too much, what you call your world?. Is my prison to escape?. Just feel like a creeping eagle, Your World/ my prison!"). Musically, the track is an excellent speedy song, built on great very fast riffs. Little room for melody, instead much for ferocity, rage, and a great desire to scream the sense of "imprisonment."

The concluding "Your Liar" is more paced in time, less fast, with a focus more oriented towards melodies. The solo granted to us by the guitarists is wonderful, always in a full state of grace. The song is constructed in two parts, the first slow, the second more furious and fast, "Your Liar," from the concept's point of view, represents the reaction to what has been narrated so far. In the first part, in fact, a "lucid point" is taken of the situation; in the second, more eventful, the victim becomes the executioner. All until reaching the protagonist's background giggle feeling free to "draw the lines," as her face is no longer the one depicted in the CD artwork (that is, without features).

Beautiful album, sometimes distressing, with really committed and intense lyrics, with vocal performances by a Stefania always over the top and the rest of the band never holding back. Excellent performances by all musicians. It’s a shame it's a DEMO and a shame for the production that does not do justice to the songs that make up our little gem. Production that "suffocates" Stefania's voice. But this is little compared to the whole. An album truly delivered with a bang. A record that deserves to be purchased. A band that deserves to be supported, because if these are the expectations.. just imagine the rest!

What else can be added but: a hugely successful test!

For further listening and/or information, I invite you to visit the band's Myspace site at http://www.myspace.com/nibelheim1 where you can listen to the reviewed songs plus a newly added fourth one, namely "Lunatic Asylum," in which Stefania's vocal performance is mind-blowing; a song brimming with rage and pathos. Really very beautiful.

Other contacts: http://www.nibelheim.it