New album, “Death Beneath A Starless Sky”, out on December 25th!
Residing in the dankest dungeons of the UK black metal scene, Nefarious Dusk have been spreading their infections since 2011. A trio of demos, an EP, and a split all issued forth before their debut album for Purity Through Fire, 2019’s The Wanderer of the Cold North. A self-titled album arrived two years later for the label. Through it all, the iron fist of the ever-prolific Dominus has ruled, who currently also counts the considerable Thy Dying Light and Úlfarr among his activities.
Now joined by Úlfarr bandmate Nosdrahcir on drums and synth, Dominus has assembled the third Nefarious Dusk full-length: Death Beneath a Starless Sky. As expected, the duo raise high the banner of second-wave classicism, but surprises still abound. Nefarious Dusk’s foundation is as firm as ever – a chilling-yet-rousing canvas of ancient atmosphere and hypnotic pulse, tastefully dusted by a subtle fog of synth – but one could rightfully argue that Death Beneath a Starless Sky is a deliberate “regression” of sorts, back to the very earliest ’90s and not strictly within a Scandinavian context. Witness the utterly shredded, sublimely ethereal guitars which recall the very earliest wave of Polish black metal. Then witness the synths float upward from that shimmering mass, creating a solemn-yet-stargazing effect no matter the tempo. For indeed do Nefarious Dusk shift among more tempos here, from the rockin’ side of the self-titled album to the blazing-the-Northern-sky surge of the debut, and the songwriting in kind embarking upon the epic; of the six here, two songs average around eight minutes and another tops ten. Whatever way you approach Death Beneath a Starless Sky, Nefarious Dusk remain against the modern world!
