NONEXISTENCE - Antarctica

Nonexistence is an one man project of the Austrian Philip Santoll, this time with some help from Tuomas Saukkonen of Before the Dawn in bass and drums, but also in the production. This is the second album of this band, and the creator describes the music as a Cosmic Doom Black Metal album. From the first moment, what is dominating the whole album is the strong atmosphere the band creates, and the emotions the music brings are simply enhanced to the maximum. The music is moving on Black Metal paths, but with the help of more Atmospheric elements, it manages to bring not only energy and raw power, but also desperation, melancholy, sadness, and various other dark and depressing feelings, something that makes the album interesting till the last minute. The vocals vary from Death Metal growls, to majestic moments that remind of Dimmu Borgir, but never one dimensional or dull, they are always fitting with the mood of the music, and the addition of some background vocals here and there, makes things even better. Musicwise the album is moving on the extreme side, with various outbreaks and blastbeats following melodic and depressing melodies and bridges that creating a perfect contradiction. An equal good work has also been done in the guitar melodies and riffs, but also in the rhythm section and with the addition of the keyboard melodies create this magnificent atmosphere of the music. The songs are diverse enough, all moving on the same pattern, borrowing some common extreme Metal influences, but each having it's own character, and creating it's own part of the story. What's more to like here, is that each song brings different things in mind, although none of them is pleasant or uplifting. There's not a single less good moment here, everything is carefully assembled, and this leads to music that you want to hear over and over, sing along, and move your feet along with the rhythm. With one of the big plus being the emotional moments and the atmosphere, but also the quality and genius in music and performance, there's nothing not to like. So, sit back, and prepare yourselves for a journey into a dark and cold place, Antarctica.