Review Summary: Give pause.
Man has funny ways of explaining nature’s many unknowns. Sometimes what is and what is thought to be are so tightly intertwined it can be difficult to separate the two. With his 2015 offering and fourth full-length,
Momenta Quintae Essentiae, Nhor aims to shirk any manmade or cultural perception of the surrounding world - fairytales, myths, gods, whatever the projection may be - and portray its magnificence in a manner that is free of supposition or misconstrual.
The heart of such a concept points to something more primal and archaic than the undertakings of man. So, to achieve this end, the UK-based soloist sought something older within himself and dismissed the dense, atmospheric black metal elements that characterize his recent albums, such as 2013’s
Within the Darkness Between the Starlight, to reembrace the ambient/dark folk ethos of his earliest output. The result is a collection of eight delicate, momentary pieces that beautifully embody the stillness of the deep, mist-shrouded forest. Throughout the 40-minute runtime, cascading rivulets of frail piano textures stir long echoes that lend wide open spaces for plaintive acoustic guitar patterns to amble and languid strings or sporadic, often wordless vocals to rise and fall.
The harsher timbres may have vanished, but the enchanting and enveloping aura that has come to typify Nhor’s discography remains. It translates seamlessly from past works and is all the more affecting here. In this tranquil setting, the atmosphere-music pairing works in a way only minimalism can. An array of subtle, gradually shifting moods is explored while the listener’s imagination given license to roam.
Nothing too stylistically revolutionary is being offered here. The record’s instrumentation and tone are clearly rooted in the nature-themed neofolk tradition sparked by Ulver’s seminal
Kveldssanger and Empyrium’s
Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays, which could detract from the experience of those who do not favor the genre. Also, relapsing artistically is not considered healthy by some, but Nhor did so to realize an objective, to effectively represent through music the clarity and inner peace that an early morning stroll through the autumnal woods can provide. From that standpoint,
Momenta Quintae Essentiae is a triumph.
