Nokturnal Mortum - Twilightfall (1995/2004)

As the earliest documentation of their existence, 'Twilightfall' marks the beginning of one of the most remarkable careers in the black/folk metal genre. Originally released in Cassette format back in ’95 under the Nocturnal Mortum name (The special K came later) it would seem even in these early days Sataroth, Xaarquath, Wortherax, Munruthel and Varggoth (all former members of Suppuration) were able to craft together some intriguing dark music.

The first noticeable thing about 'Twilightfall' is that the music is largely more death metal based and worlds more melodic sounding than future endeavors from this band. In fact one of the most pleasing aspects of this demo is the beautiful melodic and basically traditional sounding guitar solos that are present on songs like, 'Autumn Opposition,' 'Glass Coffin,' and 'On the Wings of Scarlet Sunset,' which truly had me raising an eyebrow at these guys proficiency. In an odd sort of way parts of this demo sound influenced by Dissection and early melodic death metal bands, though the music is a bit slower and generally moves at mid-pace and even shows some doom metal elements throughout the recording. Varggoth’s vocals are performed in a low growl and blackened raspy style, which is obviously a bit different from the vocals he'd lay down for the 'Lunar Poetry' demo the following year and everything that followed.

Interestingly a lot of elements that play major parts in future recordings of Nokturnal Mortum are already present on this early demo; symphonic keyboards, folk influences, Pagan/Slavonic pride lyrics as well as occasional female vocals and acoustic guitars appear. Of course they are not as used as they would become on future and present work, but they are there and I can only imagine they were one of the first bands to include all of this in one recording. The production, although possibly remastered on this rerelease, sounds decent enough for a mid-90's demo, somewhat muddy but certainly listenable, though the volume is fairly low.

'Twilightfall' will definitely come as a surprise to anyone that has familiarized themselves with 'The Voice of Steel' or really anything the bands released for that matter, but to me that's just one of the exciting things about discovering a band that's got several releases behind them.