21 Nov 2016

Sguaguarahchristis: "Der Nacht"


High class black metal
One can hardly blame a band with a name like Italian black metalheads Sguaguarahchristis for coming up with a shorter abbreviation for convenience - So SG666 it is. Der Nacht forms the second act of their dark, anti human performance, with a few smaller offerings closing the gap between the 2012 debut and their 2014 sophomore album.

The trio's brand of self-proclaimed anti human black metal takes faint cues from the early efforts of classic genre entries like Emperor and Arcturus, as SG666 themselves mention. Their music emphatically fluctuates between cascades of assailing blast beats and seamless astral melodies, played on both guitars and synths.

On some tracks the Italian group shows an affinity for rawness which greatly contrasts the internal harmony of their other compositions. It is when the band wholeheartedly open up the gates to their melodic core that the music of Sguaguarahchristis soars above the roiling seas of mediocrity.

"These oftentimes rhapsodic themes come across as the very foundation around which the rest of the components are built."

Most of the tracks on Der Nacht have interesting melodic compositions that play around with the idea of turning the music toward an audience less acquainted with the genre, but without ever fully introducing it to such. These oftentimes rhapsodic themes come across as the very foundation around which the rest of the components are built. Though neatly intertwined with the intrusive tone of the band's inherent black metal style, the jarring, raw side of the genre still fills a wide part of the spectrum.

Had it not been for the way their glorious, ethereal melodies captivate the listener, the fourty minutes that the album takes from start to finish would have felt too long. Der Nacht is not something excedingly out of the ordinary, but the album resonates with the listener in a way that makes it something worth returning to. Synths more often than not feel out of place in this genre, but SG666 achieve synergy between the album's cold guitar tracks, the relevant bass lines, the present drumming and the synths that serve the purpose of putting a stark contrast to the gritty black metal sound.

7/10


Released in 2014 by This Winter Will Last Forever

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