Satyricon - Nemesis Divina (Black Metal)

Nemesis Divina wants to sound like gritty satanic bestial brutality for the typical beer metaller, but what is really going on here is hyperactive nonsense masquerading as high-energy black metal.

Satyricon play distressingly indistinct "black metal" that shares the self-conscious compulsion of later Gorgoroth to make sure that, while the music never strays noticeably far from indie rock, it always retains black metal aesthetics and imagery. In a pathetic attempt to distinguish their music from the hordes of late to the party posers, Satyricon intersperses bits of spoken word lyrics and quiet, clean, single-string picked passages that add nothing to any song, but instead manage to reduce the energy level of the album even further.

The lethargic nature of Nemesis Divina is poorly masked by the borderline metalcore chugging sections that attempt to provide a much-needed contrast to the directionless tremolo snooze sections. The failure of Satyricon is a critical one, they are not capable of writing black metal music. They can make sounds with their guitars, but the sounds merely make themselves heard. They bear no relation to each other, or the listener, let alone a unifying compositional narrative.

Underneath the carefully polished veneer of black metal aesthetics, the discerning listener will easily recognize Motley Crüe riffs that are augmented with tritones, making each song sound like a "evil" and totally random version of your favourite sing along Disney tunes. A classic example of trying too hard, the riffs just pass by in illogical, counter-intuitive sequences, using illogical, counter-intuitive intervals, all in a very forced and incoherent manner.

Apparently these guys really want to be another vicious, fast-paced riff-fest in the style of Phantom but, contrary to what the album cover would purport, there is no black flame burning anywhere near Nemesis Divina. Not even a fake fireplace with a fan blowing little red strips of paper. At best, it's the musical equivalent of a retard playing with dead matches. Effete and counterfeit, there is no reason to listen to Nemesis Divina over any other metal (or indie rock) record.