Pardon me as I rehash a tangent I’ve likely gone on before, but as much as I get weighed down by the work that goes into maintaining this webzine, I must keep in mind the rewards that come with it. For one, I get to talk to artists on a weekly basis, people who, up until five years ago, I only knew through records, music videos, and posters, never in a million years envisioning one on one conversations. I also get to cover whatever the hell I feel, without having to kowtow to some corporate overlord. So while many of my peers have to pretend they give a shit about a new Behemoth album in 2025, yours truly gets to expose you to a black metal band that’s ACTUALLY releasing exciting music, Nachash.
Formed in 2011, Nachash may be a Norwegian black metal band, but they sure don’t carry themselves as such. There’s no lazy tremolo riffing, corpsepaint faced theatrics, or earache inducing production to be found on their sophomore album, Eschaton Magicks. In fact, quite the opposite. Nachash take an adventurous approach to their songwriting and performances, tapping into that gray area bridging the gap between black metal’s first and second waves. Think back to 1987-1992 when bands like Root, Master’s Hammer, and Samael were expanding upon the metallic devilry of Celtic Frost and Bathory in unfathomable, avant-garde ways.
Eschaton Magicks starts things off with three straightforward blasts of Under the Sign of the Black Mark tinged black metal in “Stygian Nightmare”, “Sojourner of the Dark Passage”, and “The Scythewielder”. All three songs boast larger than life riffs and a valorous atmosphere, at times thrashing with a first wave vengeance (particularly “The Scythewielder”), but ultimately sounding too leftfield to be branded blackened thrash. This is pure old school black metal through and through, with guitarwork and songwriting that deviates from the tropes one has come to expect from a black metal album in 2025. The riffs lie somewhere between old school traditionalism and otherworldly sorcery, the latter of which is explored on the remainder of the album.
From here, Eschaton Magicks shifts gears towards ambitious black metal suites that, even at their lengthiest, manage to satisfy and stay on track. The title cut doubles down on the hypnotic, occult riffing showcased on “Stygian Nightmare”, with a brutish breakdown to boot. “Death’s Mordant Blaze” is a show of infernal power and demonic force, again tapping that Under the Sign vein, while the dark, dismal “Empyrean Graves” serves as a blackened doom voyage to the underworld. The winding rollercoaster of an epic that is “Wherein the Devil Dwells” closes, blurring riffs and tempos into something colossal and over the top, yet without ever sounding pretentious.
This aforementioned observation applies to the entire album, which flows incredibly smooth through the course of its 7 song, 40 minute runtime. Similar to Necromaniac’s Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable, Eschaton Magicks is yet another reminder that despite its nearly 45 year history (yes, I am a purist who points to Venom’s Welcome to Hell as ground zero), black metal can still be fresh, thrilling, and dare I even say unpredictable. It just takes a band willing to do more than adhere to the status quo, while still respecting the traditions of yore. That band is Nachash, and that album is Eschaton Magicks.
8 out of 10
Label: Signal Rex
Genre: Black Metal
For fans of: Bathory, Master’s Hammer, Mortuary Drape
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