Has it really been a decade since Mike Browning revived tech death futurists Nocturnus under the moniker Nocturnus AD? Seriously, it feels just like yesterday they were announced for Maryland Deathfest 2014. And yet here we are a decade, countless festival appearances, and two studio albums later. This resurrection becomes all the more incredible when one considers Nocturnus AD have now outlasted their predecessor’s run by quite a few years. Perhaps nobody is more shocked by this than Browning himself, the sole original member from the Nocturnus days and faithful captain of the Nocturnus AD enterprise.
When Nocturnus AD dropped their “debut”, Paradox (2019), I found myself pleasantly surprised. Some went as far to rave that it was of the same caliber of The Key (1990) and Thresholds (1992), putting it at the top of their year end lists. While I’d never go that far, it was an enjoyable throwback to tech death at its absolute earliest and an invigorating listen, which essentially sums up how I feel towards this latest album, Unicursal. Is it a top shelf, untouchable, first gen death metal masterpiece? No, but it’ll sure grab the attention of anyone with a remote interest in this style and era.
Like every Nocturnus release before it, Unicursal is an intergalactic voyage into territory unknown, a terrain ridden with black holes, star clusters, and every other astronomical body unthinkable to man. From the opening onslaught of “The Ascension Throne of Osiris”, Nocturnus AD are locked and loaded with their signature amalgamation of ’80s death/thrash riffing, otherworldly synths, and lyrical matter range from the obscure to the occult. Browning’s barked vocals lie closer to those of Celtic Frost’s Tom G. Warrior than your typical Cookie Monster growler of the past 30 years. While admittedly not for everybody, the older I get, the more I appreciate non-traditional vocals on a death metal album. In this case, they really add to the schizophrenic atmosphere of the album.
Some cuts lie closer to the old school first gen death metal ethos than others, the aforementioned “Osiris”, “Organism 46B”, and “Yesod, The Dark Side of the Moon” immediately coming to mind. One can’t deny the early Morbid Angel-isms in its DNA, which makes one wonder how much of the last 40 years Trey Azagthoth owes to Browning. On the flip side are full blown tech death freakouts, the most prominent of these being “Mission Malkuth”. Sometimes its thrashy. Sometimes its deadly. Sometimes it blurs the line between both, all while veiled in a progressive aura of virtuosic musicianship and smoggy atmosphere.
Unicursal is a most fitting follow up to Paradox and a more than worthy entry in the Nocturnus canon. As long, ambitious, and occasionally dated as it is, I’ll gladly take it over the copy/paste fare that has come to pass for technical death metal in 2024. So long as the aliens are still sending messages to decipher and set to music his way, let’s hope Browning keeps Nocturnus AD going for another decade, and a decade to follow after that. At this rate, their music may outlive mankind itself.
7 out of 10
Label: Profound Lore Records
Genre: Technical Death Metal
For fans of: Morbid Angel, Atheist, Death