Before Gris and their monumental debut, 'Il Était une Forêt...,' the duo of Neptune and Icare (here known as Orion) recorded under the name Niflheim, which is a name they shared with three other bands as well, which probably explains the eventual name change. As Niflheim the band recorded four demos between '05 & '06 and eventually this debut, 'Neurasthénie' saw release in '06 as well, and eventually re-released under Gris banner. Musically they offer up depressive black metal that displays key qualities from both raw black metal and doom metal, which isn't entirely different to what the band is doing nowadays. The guitars are played at a slow pace and have the traditional black metal buzz in place, the drums are slow with not a whole lot of variation, there are eerie keyboards for good atmospheric measure, and the vocals are rather standard black metal screams. Acoustic guitars are also used a number of times throughout the album as there are two instrumental acoustic pieces, which serve as a nice break from the gloominess of this album.
Taking a guess I’d say these guys were initially heavily influenced by the likes of Xasthur and Burzum, the latter of which seems to play a huge influence on the song, ‘Lueur D'Ombre,’ which reminds me of, ‘Gebrechlichkeit I’ from Buzum’s, ‘Filosofem’ album. Even so Niflheim manages to conjure up their own unique dark sound that to my ears at least sounds both evil, depressing and quite beautiful as well. Often times happening at the same time.
When all's said and done, Niflheim delivers a great depressive black metal release that has been receiving some regular playtime from me as of recent. I’m quite sure if you’re into the bands mentioned above, curious about Gris' origins or are just looking for a band that blends both beauty and darkness together, you’ll definitely want to pick up ‘Neurasthénie.’
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