NIL – “Umbra”

I freaking love it when I come across a band with which I am not familiar and they immediately blow my socks off! I listen to a lot of records and I can tell you it doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s just a totally special experience. Enter German band NIL and their new album Umbra… holy crap was I floored!

NIL waste no time kicking things into high gear with the disc’s opener, “The Fall,” a fuzzy, hypnotic tune that is so good it completely sucked me in imploring me to continue listening; I literally could not turn away. A great many records start off with a bang and quickly fizzle, but Umbra is much different; it packs a punch until the very last note.

This record is a complex amalgamation of groove-laden, crushingly-heavy metal and alt-rock interspersed with melodic ethereal passages. There are tons of twists and turns as heavy chaotic riffs and distorted vocals give way to simple melodic passages creating calm amongst the chaos. Umbra is a phenomenal piece of music and well worth anyone loud music fan’s time, money, and energy.

Track Listing:

01. The Fall
02. Monolith
03. Circumcise
04. Wide Awake
05. Effort
06. Hooker
07. Imprint
08. Transition
09. Me

Run Time: 43:17
Release Date: October 27, 2013

Check out the album ‘Umbra’