Nihilence
Dying World

THE REVIEW

In June, apparently, not all youngsters are busy with finals: many of them are blossoming, partying and going out to dance. Others, on the other hand, set out to massacre innocents with blasts of death metal: this is exactly what the Tuscan band Nihilence do. This very young group, hailing from the Prato area, has just released their first EP “Dying World” a couple of days ago: nomen omen.

“Banger” opens with a bone-crushing rhythm and a guitar riff rooted more in thrash than death, but the growl doesn’t take long to arrive, bringing with it heavier groove influences. An excellent track that draws a bit from the ‘80s and a bit from the ‘90s, yet never gives up a modern vision of the genre. The title track stretches the length a little, settling on still rather short durations, and throws in some great riffs; around the first minute, there’s a section heavily influenced by black metal, but it quickly swings back to muscle-bound death territory. And the bass: guys, what a bass this EP boasts! The only flaw in this title track, in my opinion, is that it loses a bit of the melody, leaving you with the riffs stuck in your head but not the song itself. This flaw is more than made up for with the next track, “Save me”, which also features excellent tempo changes that recall classic heavy influences onto which massive growls are overlaid, creating a great atmosphere. The drumming is truly remarkable. The riffing remains top notch and—no small feat—the sound is very clear, which really brings out the excellent guitar work.

The last track—“War Crimes”—is the longest and opens with a nice dialogue between riff and vocals, both delivering a great performance. It continues without shifting the sound’s coordinates and this is how the EP comes to a close.

In terms of sound, it’s built on ferocious but not pointlessly extreme death metal; one of the group’s strengths is that they manage to create the famed “wall of sound” without coming off as lumbering, clumsy, or even boring—as often happens when death-thrash bands focus too much on heaviness and mid tempos. The main influences I hear are Slayer, Death, Morbid Angel, Possessed, some Exodus and Obituary, and perhaps even some touches headed toward the fiercer side of doom.

Ultimately, this is a record to listen to if you want to keep up with the youngest players in the underground scene—an excellent calling card from a band that clearly knows what they’re doing, and a must-hear for June for anyone interested in death and similar genres. The band, of course, still has some room for improvement, but I believe with this EP they’ve shown they know how to make good music even without massive production behind them. Rating: 78/100.