By Phil Cooper
And Now The Owls Are Smiling, the collective name for north Norfolk based musician Nre. Having already made a mark with the release of 2019’s ‘The Comforting Grip of Misery’, Nre has returned to embark once again on a twisting and evocative path of atmospheric black metal. The result is the eight-track ‘Dirges’. A collection of music that works together to hold onto a grip of winter and enthral the listener into a whirl of sombre, emotionally charged darkness.
With opener ‘Grief’ the atmospheric placement of the record is outlined with a background sampling of crashing waves and an almost shanty like chorus of voices delivering a haunting harmonised vocal line. The match up is ideal for an opener, drawing in a reflective mood with a tinge of sorrow yet still creating an enticing pull. The fade out leads into chiming guitars and an expansive reverb wash that forms the intro for ‘Rejection’.
The gentle beginning bars kick into a full rich textured wall of sound featuring pounding drums and rapid-fire riffs. The vocals have now taken on the classic black metal stylistics of a raw guttural edge, yet the cadence of the delivery offers more of a sorrowful counterpoint to the music rather than the aggressive emotive that would be heard in other parts of the genre. The relentless drive of the track is captivating and pulls everything together into a cohesive force. ‘Rejection’ rises and falls with the breakdowns altering the musical path while it retains its core phrasing and themes from the intro. In the latter part, the cadence rises into another level lifting the piece from its softer beginnings to a crescendo that then gradually falls away to return to the initial guitar introduction phrasing for the fade out.
The way the music ebbs and flows throughout the tracks is matched in the layout of the album itself. The extent of this is that while you can choose a particular track to focus on, it is much better to start and allow the album to play in its entirety. It’s a full composition in its own right, absorbing and enthralling from start to finish. There are still specific standout moments such as ‘Darkness’. The track features an insistent tempo driving a sense of urgency that hooks the listener, however the descending chord progression heightens the sombre atmosphere that Nre is looking to create. As the music shifts and develops, certain passages create a sense of triumph and fanfare as the chord progression alters the direction. The effect created is captivating and forms a highly engaging track.
‘Solitude’ employs a similar technique to ‘Darkness’ in that the chord progressions dictate the mood of the music. However, to increase the sonic interest, when the progression leads to an uplifting passage, the vocals create a juxtaposition as the guttural technique produces an anguished and despairing delivery. All the while the rhythm section in the background fleshes out the texture while the mix produces a wall of sound that washes over everything. It’s a weighty track that hammers home the sombre style of the whole album.
As the album moves towards the conclusion with ‘Ascension’ the black metal genre techniques are employed to great effect delivering an album of crushing weight. It’s heavy but not in an all-out instrument assault. Indeed, the closer is a sparse, synth pad layered ambient outro with none of the distortion or instrumentation previously heard. Yet it fits with the collective album and rounds off the record. ‘Dirges’ is emotively heavy laying down a darker and reflective atmosphere. Technically well executed with clear instrumental skill and compositional talent as each track offers something different while clearly working as whole to offer a complete picture.
‘Dirges’ is not a party album that will uplift a mood, it’s an album to get lost in and offers an introspective look while being delivered with a punch of black metal. Elements of it may turn some away as some tracks merge together, building on previous themes. While this does create an even flow, some could see it as repetitive. Each track works best when the album is taken as a whole. For fans of atmospheric black metal and for those looking for something different, it is definitely worth investing the time to engage.
- ‘Dirges’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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