Review Summary: Nocturnal Depression return with an album that perfectly creates the depressing atmosphere and sound that so many DSBM bands aim for
Nocturnal Depression, one of the most widely known and enjoyed bands within the DSBM genre, their album
'Nostalgia - Fragments Of A Broken Past' is widely regarded as a classic within the genre, standing amongst others such as
'Suici.De.Pression' and
'The Tenth Sub Level Of Suicide'. The follow up to this,
Soundtrack For A Suicide - Opus II' is another great release, atmospheric, cold and truly depressing.
The instrumentation in this is nothing special, a lot of simple riffs and patterns, but unlike many bands, Nocturnal Depression have crafted it well, so whilst simple, it's repetitive nature and use of dark scales and layers of instruments creates a truly dark and deep atmosphere that draws the listener in, the combination of guitar and synth/keyboard on tracks such as opener
'Hear My Voice...Kill Yourself' create a beautiful sound that makes the listener feel isolated and allows the exploration of the messages and feelings that are been conveyed in the music so that, by the end, the listener reemerges from the experience feeling a lot less happier than upon entering. Whilst the playing is simple, don't take that for not exploring different styles, there's; chordal progressions, tremolo picking, arpeggios and other styles all employed at various points, all appearing in the track, for each track doesn't just stick to one style, they evolve, exploring different sounds as they progress, so the listener never becomes bored. The band also mixes clean and distorted sounds to create their atmospheres, the beginning of
'Anthems To Self Destruction' is a perfect example, the arpeggios and simple picking layered together create a cold, isolated atmosphere that blends perfectly into the distorted section afterwards, things like this are what makes this band so special, they create music that flows, seamlessly from section to section, never losing momentum or its atmosphere. The drumming on the album is simple too, but that is a good thing, if the drumming was complex and fast it wouldn't fit with the music and would ruin what the band is trying to create, rather the drumming matches the guitar and synth parts.
The vocal work of Lord Lokraed is perfect for this, his tortured screams sound genuinely pained on this, so his words come across as genuine and meaningful, his voice matches the guitars perfectly, all coming together to create this oppressive and painful atmosphere, his voice varies from straight forward growls and screams, to high shrieks that sound like he is genuinely in pain when creating them. The lyrics on this are also well done, straight forward and reflective of the nature of the music, the lyrics to
Hear My Voice...:
Hear my voice into your head, don't try to stop it
The poison streaming into your veins is me
The cold you can feel is my revenge
You're just a scum, a creeping filth, you inspire hate
Take this poisoned blade or are you
So c*nt that you can't end your life?
Overall, this is a great followup album to
Nostalgia very atmospheric, very depressing and perfectly constructed to create the sounds that the band wanted and to deliver the message they wished, everything is perfectly done to merge into one wall of sound that will surround the listener in its melancholy till the end. For anyone who is a fan of DSBM then this is a must listen
