Having spent the better part of six or so years delving deeper into the wellspring of ancient extremist intent and occult-alchemic conjured visions Oslo, Norway-based black metal trio NACHASH present their findings, triumphal knowledge of the endtime on this sophomore full-length album. A curious second angle at a death-worshipping black metal album rooted in the first wave’s speed/heavy metal upsurge ‘Eschaton Magicks‘ is a creation which scythe-cuts and invaginates temporal logic in sourcing its difficult to reference sound, stepping outside of time for the sake of the terminus in mind. A rolling attack through ancient extremes and psychotic performances the trio’s work values energy and accost just as much as detail and technique this time around, making for a harried yet consistently bounding record which achieves an even more singularly set sense of self this time around.

Nachash formed circa 2011 as a duo between vocalist, guitarist/bassist A.R. (Hideous Death, Kosmik Tomb, Black Edifice) and drummer Tiller (ex-Celestial Bloodshed) in summon of arcane ex-death metal built late 80’s/early 90’s black metal. Their first release took some time to realize but the ‘Conjuring the Red Death Eclipse‘ (2015) EP quickly proved itself a mastery of auld crepitations, built via huge riffs and a cacophonic snarl but largely serving its extended-run verses with an atmospheric and hypnotic form of droning black metal. From the start there was no clear inspiration but we could at least see elements of 80’s death metal, epic heavy metal, and first ’til (early) second wave black metal transit in their work. They were soon joined by bassist R. of Knokkelklang and Syning and this line-up has persisted through their two full-length albums to date.

Much as I struggled through the review process for Nachash‘s debut LP (‘Phantasmal Triunity‘, 2018) it was yet one of the better black metal adjacent albums released that year though an obscure, heavily nuanced release. It was clear they were pulling from a broad spectrum of heavy and extreme metal taste to create that first album and their own description, “deathened black metal”, made sense to some degree but didn’t quite emphasize the strength of their arcane heavy metal influenced, riff-oriented style (re: “Astral Sacrifice”). Naturally comparisons to early Master’s Hammer, Mortuary Drape and Varathron were warranted in terms of their inspiration and modus though I think folks went into it expecting something less ‘old school’ black metal in general. Again, it was easily one of the more underrated records of that year and the standard set for what arrives here seven years beyond.

The suggestion was that Nachash would still pull from their dedication to 80’s death metal and first wave black metal tendencies for their style beyond the 2023-released promo tape (‘Promo 2023‘, 2023) which’d featured raw versions of two songs (“The Scythewielder” b/w “Death’s Mordant Blaze”) soon to feature on ‘Eschaton Magicks‘. The latter piece and its speed metal rattle might’ve appeared aesthetically black metal in the early Bathory sort of sense but I generally understood the line they were drawing in terms of their use of auld speed metal melody and harsher, cacophonic sounds… though to be fair my references for this are deeply obscure in that those songs recalled the very best of Poison (Germany) and the first Quo Vadis (Poland) demo tape in different ways. This is different than the expectations set by the previous album but not necessarily in terms of their compositions, many of which lean into the atmosphere without breaking their channeling of ancient black/death metal from a late 80’s/early 90’s Eastern European mind palace. In this sense we can ease the comparison machine and begin to recognize the unique atmosphere and vision of ‘Eschaton Magicks’ as something familiar in spirit but singular in its obscure stride.

The rooting of ‘Eschaton Magick‘ is, again, that fine line draw between early speed metal inspired first wave black metal and the punkish whiplash of that style of drumming sidled with rolling double bass trampled movements. This creates a burnt and galloping atmosphere for their death-mused hymns as they roll in one after another. Opener “Stygian Nightmare” is the frenzied hum of 80’s heavy metal’s penchant for arabesque melody given a faster whip cracked step as the trundle of the main bassline follows, feeding the furnace for an event which is both blazing in its action but burning slow and direct to face in its presentation. To my ear there is a bit of ‘The Day of Wrath‘-era Bulldozer fueling the tank so to speak but with snarled vocals that’d have suitably lead the first Merciless album, yet the surreal almost easygoing stride of Nachash is their own as these rawest ideals coalesce. “Sojourner of the Dark Passage” gives us a bit more deathlike narrative, a downward echoing cough of black smoke and carrion stench riding arena-sized momentum ’til the death-thrashing turn around ~2:49 minutes into the song helps cement its place as a key foil for their buzzing, hard-rolling sound.

It might serve Nachash well enough to suggest their sound/style was sinister heavy metal at this point as they pull from the earliest extreme metal threads and their inextricable linkage to speed metal and hardcore punk and from my point of view “The Scythewielder” is the kind of step many later to the party bands took in response to Venom (or early Slayer) back in the late-80’s European underground. For my own taste the angered gnashing of the vocals and the slower riff-built step of this song doesn’t quite match the precision of anything on ‘Phantasmal Triunity‘ in terms of intricacy or profoundly ear-flicking interest but it works as part of Side A, adding to the tsunami of evil heavy metal rearing up overhead under their guidance. That is to say that the whole of the first half, assumedly drawing the line between sides after the title track, feels like it follows a similar track and tone as their frantic attack flows through each of those songs. This is, again, very different from the more singular pieces that’d settled for shared space on the first album.

The deeper we go into this ~40 minute trek on the road of kings lends us no relief from the ‘old school’ heavy metal feeling of this album as the simpler beaten path of the drums and warbling basslines follow us for a second opening, and one of my favorite pieces on the album the aforementioned “Death’s Mordant Blaze”. It’d been the song from the promotional tape that’d convinced me to give this different sound a closer listen. Still, if you were on board with any of Side A then the doubly long, often far more intricately struck pieces found on Side B will be more of a great thing as we get an uptick in solid thrash metal riffs and general interruptions to Nachash‘s battered-out flow; If the album simply carried on with the shorter, surrealistic cull of its first half throughout I’d have been far less interested in as a whole and I don’t doubt many listeners who’d loved the first record and went in looking for that level of detail and heavy metal shambling will be happier by the time the more resolutely characteristic stride n’ stampede of “Empyrean Graves” hits and the incredible ~8.5 minute closer “Where the Devil Dwell” lands.

From rousing alchemical catalyst to dark magick rituals in the deep the full listen of ‘Eschaton Magick‘ is both consistent in texture and feature throughout, as any 80’s underground extreme metal would’ve been, though once again the straightforward heavy/speed metal structures that Nachash use to brace it are most key to its appeal on my end. Otherwise the production values are both brilliant (re: bass guitar tone and presence) and almost demo-level jank per the bass drum timbre on the recording to the point that extended listening sessions feel like they were pulled outside of time, carrying an effect which I’d compare to experiencing a long lost recording that’d been souped up a bit decades later. This is not a criticism of the production values so much as an appreciation for specific sound design which invokes a lifetime to digging through obscure tapes for that one ultimate imperfectly-perfect variation; Otherwise this time around I think the overall art direction, curation of their aesthetic etc. does an even better job of communicating their wares to the average fan and suits the dark ride through the album well. As a fan of the band’s previous release I would admit this isn’t the exact sound I’d gone in expecting but the end result is a path I’m wholly willing to follow as their work only becomes more arcane and menacing. A high recommendation.

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