Nameless Coyote clearly had a vision when crafting
Devoured by the Swirling Night; amongst all the aimless "blackgaze" projects floating around the internet these days, it takes only a cursory listen to this San Fransisco band's debut EP to realize they are a higher breed of shoegaze influenced black metal. Where others falter in their juxtaposition of shogaze's inherent etherealness and black metal's inaccessibility Nameless Coyote does not - in this type of music balance is the key, and one-man composer Foxblood's talent in even craft has given him the ability to open many doors.
Obviously Alcest is the closest point of reference and easiest to relate this to but unlike so many of his peers, Nameless Coyote is far from a blatant copycat to France's blackened shoegaze luminaries - even during moments of pure shoegazing bliss the howling storm of black metal guitars is ever present, coalescing with dream-soaked melodies to create a near perfect synthesis of these two previously foreign genres. Even when separated these two styles of music need the right coaxing to produce the best results, and as Nameless Coyote proves quite well over the course of this three-track EP that
Devoured By The Swirling Night is a steady endeavor no matter which route it chooses to pursue. Where the shoegaze based "Untitled" hoists you up into the clouds to enjoy heavenly harmonies and distanced croons, the appropriately named title track "Devoured by the Swirling Night" stirs together blissful guitar passages with tastefully done keyboard segments, subtly masking the latter instrument to accentuate the raw beauty of Nameless Coyote's strong melodic sensibilities.
Devoured By The Swirling Night isn't groundbreaking but it doesn't need to be; in his careful composition Nameless Coyote has created a set of tunes far more mature than a great deal of his blackgaze peers, the truest sign of success if there ever was one. While many have almost lost all hope in this type of music, (myself included) Nameless Coyote offers hope to the disillusioned; based on this fine EP, at least there is one blackgaze project that our hopes can continue to float on comfortably.
