Review Summary: Black Metal without the Black. Or the Metal. Or music.
Hailing from the frostbitten woodlands of Australia, Striborg is a one man Black Metal band formed in the year of 1997. Its sole member is a man by the name of Sin Nanna. Striborg plays an ambient style of Black Metal but instead of Leviathan or early Nachtmystium we get some of the worst music, if I'm allowed to call it that, ever created. Congratulations, Sin Nanna, as if your stupid alias wasn't enough, referencing a Sumerian moon, you have successfully created a "tr00 kvlt" record that is so "true" it has breached the gates of unlistenable quality instead of the gates of Hell. I wouldn't expect much different from someone who named one of their demos "In The Heart Of The Rain Forest". Running out of grim facades?
The first thing I noticed as soon as the album started was that almost everything is inaudible. You really have to crank those speakers up to hear anything happening. Which isn't much. The weak, buzzing guitar sounds have more of a presence than the drums. He didn't even need to play drums for this when you hear how muffled they are in the full mix. I would talk about the bass if I could, you know, hear it. The vocals (Nanna sounds like he's being strangled or gargling bleach) are unimpressive and almost non-existent. "Ambient" could be a word that describes "Nefaria: A Tragic Journey Towards The Light" in its entirety, meaning that the whole record is a huge mess. Without any decent song writing backing up the strange noises and effects he throws in, the concept is mundane and lost behind a seemingly endless track of white noise, the songs blurring together, never standing out or variating from the same formula. Monotonous to say the least.
Sin has definitely forgotten that badly produced Black Metal can still have its own atmosphere and will, usually, use the instruments as a stepping stone to this before they even start recording. Forget Darkthrone, Obtained Enslavement, Burzum and Xasthur. Their records sound crystal clear compared to the arbitrary production on "Nefaria". It's almost as if he doesn't want you to hear anything, which is understandable because what you can make out is less than influential or even good. He plays by numbers Black Metal with aggravating synth thrown in to, perhaps, compensate for his lack of musical talent or direction. Although the synth is aggravating, it's more enjoyable than the rest of this horrible mistake. If "necro" were a genre then this guy has it down to a science. You really do want to kill yourself after it's over.
There are no redeeming qualities about this record other than the random harmonies that desperately try to paint a portrait against a canvas spray painted over in black. I advise you not to buy this. Download it if you must but don't waste your hard-earned cash on such a disgrace. Not only to Black Metal but all music in general. If you're into bands that aren't worried about creating something meaningful and play the "kvlt" card instead of showcasing musicianship then add this to your collection of rare Black Metal LPs, that have never been heard by more than 3 people, listen to it once and then let it collect dust underneath your candelabras.
I was going to give this a 1 but a 1.5 seems reasonable enough. I was also going to recommend other bands but doing that would make me feel like I'm slapping those artists in the face.
