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Xullux is the debut full-length album from Slovenian black metal act Nephrolith. The 2011 album is the second overall release from the band, following the 2009 demo Vinsketh. There are twelve tracks on the album, three of which serve as an intro, interlude, and outro respectively. The interlude appears between the two part track Abandoned Essence.
Nephrolith’s music sits comfortably within the melodic side of the black metal genre. That means a sound that you instinctively know is black metal when you hear it, but it’s also a sound that is a lot more polished and professional on the production front than particularly the genre’s earlier bands such as Darkthrone, which means that this is a brand of black metal that lacks the cold atmosphere that is often associated with the genre, although it still retains a somewhat dark appeal to it, which is something you can hear straight away in the suitably creepy introduction track Alpha, but also in some of the melodic parts which can be considered melancholic at times.
This lack of the cold black metal atmosphere is naturally probably going to mean that Nephrolith’s music won’t hold much appeal to the black metal elite. The band’s take on black metal is a lot more accessible, but in the bigger picture this is definitely a good thing, as Nephrolith don’t go down any minimalistic routes either, and their music not only includes black metal styled riffs and black metal growls, but also use of classically inspired acoustic guitar parts, which I think sound really great on this release. This is first heard towards the end of the first proper song, Spiritual Departure, and crops up in several places throughout Xullux, adding a nice touch to the compositions that I definitely wasn’t expecting. Their music is otherwise very melodic even in their heaviest sections, and there are many interesting lead guitar melodies and solos on offer. A couple of their melodies even come across as slightly folksy, such as in the title track and The Tale of the Conquering Dusk. The songs are well crafted and each has its own identity, which makes the album flow really well without a trace of boredom setting in.
While Xullux is all in all a highly consistent album, if there’s one fault to be found in it it’s that there is the odd moment where the vocals sound a bit forced and therefore don’t work as well as they usually do. Other than these moments they are otherwise spot on for this sort of release. Fortunately this doesn’t happen often enough that it’s too much of a big deal and I mostly like the vocal performance here, since it’s not too difficult to hear the lyrics. If there’s one type of black metal I hate it’s the sort where the band bashes their instruments as fast as possible in repetitive patterns with a lo-fi production and you can’t at least understand the lyrics. Nephrolith’s Xullux represents the opposite of that, and overall Xullux is certainly one of the best melodic black metal albums I’ve heard.
(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scored at 8.6/10 "Very Exceptional Album")