Nargaroth celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this year, and while the German black metal band’s output has been few and far between compared to in the early days founder Ash has kept busy with live performances throughout South/Central America and other parts of the world. While the group’s earlier output explored rawer second-wave black metal as well as some of the lengthier and repetitive arrangements that were similar to Burzum, each Nargaroth album has brought different elements to the table while keeping this old-school foundation. 2017’s Era of Threnody represented one of the most significant shifts to date, with the arrangements exploring atmospheric and melodic elements alongside some experimentation. Nearly nine years have passed since that effort released, and now Ash returns with Apocalyptic Steel, which has material that was written before Era of Threnody and finished in the last few years. It’s Nargaroth’s shortest and most direct album to date, but it showcases the different elements that the band has explored over the decades.
Following a short intro, “Steel Apocalypse” comes in with a considerable amount of speed and brutality. Where some of Nargaroth’s previous material was pure second wave, this track feels like it’s going for the unrelenting blasting approach of something like early Marduk crossed with a little bit of death metal, and once the solos come roaring in things get even wilder. Black metal remains at the core of what Apocalyptic Steel has to offer, but the stylistic elements Ash employs vary from track to track and give the album more variety than one might initially expect. For the first half or so things stick similar to “Steel Apocalypse” with plenty of heavy hitting and fast paced arrangements, but “Metalheart” has some riffs that feel like a cross over into black/thrash and blackened speed metal. But it’s the last few tracks where Nargaroth really shakes things up, as “Dresden” slows things down significantly and has melodies that have more of a gothic tinge to them while “Shelter the Faithless” has a denser tone and lumbering riffs that are much more death metal sounding at first. On the other end of the spectrum, “Man of Mayhem” opts for a fuller sound with some melodic black metal elements and introspective transitions while “Requiem Germania” has some hints of black metal and doom that recall some of Nargaroth’s past efforts as well as other German black metal from years past. The compactness of the material works to the band’s advantage, and while “Shelter of the Faithless” does drag a little bit it’s definitely an outlier.
Like the instrumentation, the vocals initially seem as though they’re going to stick firmly in the traditional black metal side of the house but there are some surprises towards the second half of the album. Initially the performance comes through with as much aggression and grit as you’d expect, with Ash’s raspy scream towering above the recording. There are quite a few samples woven into the tracks, which isn’t particularly surprising considering that Era of Threnody did the same, but the ones Nargaroth has put in fit the themes of the songs well. “Dresden” is where things get shaken up a bit, as not only is the instrumental work a bit mellower and moodier but Ash also switches over to introspective singing. When some black metal bands have attempted this the results have been mixed, but it works well here and gives this song a different feel that makes it stand out. “Requiem Germania” also has some chanted/clean sections as well that close off the album in an appropriately epic fashion.
Apocalyptic Steel does save some of its more dynamic elements for the later tracks, opting to go brute force and aggression early on, but the material has plenty of staying power and riffs that capture that old-school black metal spirit. Some of the early tracks do blur together slightly and “Shelter the Faithless” does feel longer than it needs to be, but as a whole this is still a strong showing that showcases how far Nargaroth has come since those earlier days. I do think Era of Threnody edges it out slightly for me but seeing that both albums originated from a similar timeframe it’s impressive that Apocalyptic Steel has its own identity and doesn’t feel like scraps or B-sides. Hopefully with this release completed the wait until the next one isn’t another decade! Apocalyptic Steel is available from Season of Mist: Underground Activists.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg