If you are a regular reader of the site, then you’ll know that my idea with the Black Metal Archives is to help shine a light on bands and artists that you might not have heard of, instead of focusing on those wthin the black metal/extreme metal community that have already made a decent shake of it. And if you follow me on Bluesky – which you can do @blackmetalarchives.bsky.social and yes, that is a shameless plug – you’ll know that the reason I only ever publish positive reviews is because I go through a lot, and I do mean a fucking lot, of bands each day, looking for something I click with and those bands/artists I don’t, I just move on from them until I find ones that I do. After all, what might not be my cup of tea could very well be someone else’s ambrosia.
You’ll also know – or at least you will now – that I put out a call to arms for any bands, artists, or labels to reach out if they wanted me to to give their music a listen and that’s just what NSM Prod did. They sent me an email explaining they were a small indepndent label, with three bands on their roster, and would I mind checking out their albums, even if they were a couple of years old? To which I said, not a problem, because if I didn’t vibe with anything on offer I knew I could just not write a review. As you have probably guessed by now, I obviously vibed with what NSM Prod had to offer.
S/T – which I’ve just realised means wlf titled bcause I am a dumbass – by Hraesvelgr was where I chose to start and I’m glad I did. Musically, Hraesvelgr hit all the right, distorted notes. There are blast beats aplenty – as well as some sections dedicated to pounding double bass and powerhouse drumming – accompanied by dark and forboding riffs that swirl around in chaotic turmoil, pouring out of the speakers in a tsunami of noise, and bass you can actually hear, which, as anyone who listens to black metal will tell you, is rarer than unicorn shit. But for mez the true hero of Hraesvelgr’s S/T are the vocals.Now, I’ll be honest with you here, these aren’t going to be for everyone. These aren’t your normal black metal vocals with gutteral roars, punctuated with high pitched wails, these are screams. Straight up agonised screams of a person who is in the pit of despair. It isn’t easy listening, and not everyone will want to sit through the sound of a human being seemingly being torn limb from limb, but I think it fits the mood and the style of Hraesvelgr’s S/T perfectly.
As introductions to NSM Prod and Hraesvelgr go, this is a gem of a record. From straight forward full out assaults to sprawling seven and ten minute epics, I highly recommend Hraesvelgr’s S/T to anyone looking for a band/artist dedicated to the most raw of raw black metal.
You can buy Hraesvelgr’s S/T from NSM Prod on Linktree or check it out over on the NSM Prod YouTube channel.
