{"id":29123,"date":"2015-04-27T00:00:18","date_gmt":"2015-04-27T00:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=29123"},"modified":"2015-05-07T15:24:25","modified_gmt":"2015-05-07T15:24:25","slug":"album-review-ninkharsag-the-blood-of-celestial-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-ninkharsag-the-blood-of-celestial-kings\/","title":{"rendered":"NINKHARSAG – The Blood Of Celestial Kings (2015) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

NINKHARSAG
The Blood Of Celestial Kings<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nCandlelight (2015)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Liverpool may be always be known as being the home of The Beatles, but it\u2019s also the abode of black metal nightmare Ninkharsag who were formed in the shadows of the city back in 2011. <\/p>\n

It has taken a while for the band to reach this point with their debut album, having previously vomited out a demo in 2011 and a two-track digital single in 2013. Both songs from the single \u2013 the title track \u2018The Essential Salts Of Human Dust\u2019, and \u2018Liber V Vel Reguli\u2019 \u2013 feature on the album. <\/p>\n

Ninkharsag is a band which revels in playing fast-paced and aggressive black metal; don\u2019t expect too many frills, but do expect a truly gnarly nature from this frightful four-piece which marries an old school lean with modern nuances. <\/p>\n

The opening track \u2018The Sicarii\u2019 is a devilish lump of charcoal; the vocals of Kyle Nesbitt are wicked throughout, hinting at the black majesty of Mayhem as the guitars rumble with ominous fashion. Indeed, with one first listen it\u2019s already clear that Ninkharsag are influenced by that initial Scandinavian wave of black metal beasts, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that because as each track introduces itself, one gets consumed by these lethal waves of accessible darkness. <\/p>\n

Catchy riffs, hammering drums, a vicious bass assault and some stunning marches into mid-tempo wickedness are the order of the day here, all the while coated by those filthy, stinking mocking sneers. This is how black metal should be played. Forget those rainy dissonant shores of remote tepidness or overtly symphonic levels of blandness, this is just stark yet weighty primitive evil built upon a foundation of those sturdy, prodding drums and Nesbitt\u2019s rhythm guitar which is injected with malice by Paul Armitstead\u2019s murky leads. <\/p>\n

\u2018Liber V Vel Reguli\u2019 is a sneering, barbed battering ram featuring a persistent drum thud that hits right to the heart of darkness, and the guitars offer up a belching melody that always has a shadowy past. The changes of pace are effortless and unexpected, which mean that the tracks throughout remain refreshing to the ears.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ninkkarsag\u2019 is one of the album\u2019s most furious and scornful outbursts as it rages at quite a pace while Nesbitt literally spits his bloodied organs over the instrumentation. \u2018Tartarus Unbound\u2019 hints at the arrogant stature of Mayhem as it ascends; the chords and percussion building to higher mocking plateaus of evil.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Dawn Of The Age Of Aquarius\u2019 is a hammer to the skull, meanwhile, serving up the best work of stick warlock Jay Pipprell whose skin-bashing assault fits perfectly alongside an oily riff and those volatile vocal rasps. While not as quintessentially British as one would expect, some of the punky riffs \u2013 especially deep within the murk of \u2018The Dawn Of The Age Of Aquarius\u2019 and closer \u2018Iron Wolves\u2019 \u2013 offer up a Scandinavian hue as well as a fine breakdown of trickling bass and eerie screaming leads before the combo resorts back to the bracing speed. <\/p>\n

Okay, so it may not be the most original black metal platter you\u2019ll hear this side of the aforementioned Mayhem, Emperor and Dissection, but it\u2019s a darn sight more effective than a majority of bands to lurk within the genre. With vocals that never cease to send a chill down the spine, The Blood Of Celestial Kings<\/em> could well take to the roster for being one of 2015\u2019s most convincing and barbaric black metal releases.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NINKHARSAGThe Blood Of Celestial Kings Candlelight (2015)Rating: 8.5\/10 Liverpool may be always be known as being the home of The Beatles, but it\u2019s also the abode of black metal nightmare Ninkharsag who were formed in the shadows of the city back in 2011. It has taken a while for the band to reach this point […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,2061],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-ninkharsag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29123"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29146,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29123\/revisions\/29146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}