8

Danish Death Metal

The record kicks of with ultra heavy and neck breaking fast guitars and drums, blasting the single brain cell I had left into oblivion. As could be expected, this is immediately followed by the relentless and growling assault of vocals ensuring no recovery for the said brain cell.

This is Death Metal as it’s supposed to be. Forget all the cross genre technical approaches you hear nowadays. Nembience ticks all the boxes to compete with the fastest, loudest and heaviest of death metal bands.

The vocals are blasted out by Kenneth Reby, who, with a great growling vocal range, makes the hair in the back of your neck stand up whilst chills run down your spine. And when he drops into the heavy growls, he scares the living daylights out of me. The guitars are extremely tight with great harmonious collaboration between Jose Cruze and Martin Rasmussen, also providing great guitar solos.

With many tracks spilling right into each other, you don’t get to rest the neck between songs. No breaks between the songs, just blasting into the next track. This is very heavy, and probably won’t get any radio play, but it should, as it is deserved. For those who like death metal, Children of Bodom, Malefice.

Nembience was started by guitar players Jose Cruze and Martin Rasmussen after they teamed up with drummer Kasper Rottboll at the beginning of 2005 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The band was completed by the appointment of vocalist Kenneth Reby and bassist Jacob Lykkebo. Their debut album, “Through Times of Despair”, was recorded in 2008. Since the recording of the album, drummer, Kasper, left the band and was replaced by Peter Mathiesen in January 2010.

“Through Times of Despair” is not for the light hearted. It is solid death metal and should be enjoyed as such. Yes, there’s not a huge variety between the songs, but there is extremely talented musicianship displayed throughout the album. The debut album was released in February 2010 through Casket Music, and the band will now embark on tour to promote the album. There is no mention of any shows in the UK, but it should be a given.