NOCTURNUS A.D.
NOCTURNUS A.D. “Unicursal”
By Dr. Abner Mality
NOCTURNUS A.D.’s last album “Paradox” was a tremendous achievement and one of the very best...if not THE best...follow-ups to a long-ago classic that I’ve ever heard. It still occupies a high echelon on my “Best of 21st” century list. “Unicursal” only took five years to materialize on the heels of “Paradox”...a relative pittance in the cosmic scale on which NOCTURNUS A.D. operates.
So how is “Unicursal”? Well, it definitely follows in the musical footsteps of its predecessor, with the band’s utterly unique combination of progressive yet old school death metal and celestial synth soundscapes. No other band sounds like NOCTURNUS A.D. and that’s something to be proud of. That being said, I don’t quite rate this as highly as “Paradox” or even the band’s long ago debut, “The Key”. But if you enjoyed those albums, “Unicursal” will satisfy. I think if anything, it’s a bit too close to “Paradox” in sound...not a bad thing at all, but the older album did it first and a little bit better.
“Epic” is the key word here, as many songs exceed the 7 minute mark. Fortunately, they don’t go overboard with 15 or 20 minute excursions. Almost every track starts with analog synth sounds that are futuristic yet curiously old-fashioned at the same time. Keyboardist Josh Holdren gets ample opportunities to cut loose with some wild soloing that keeps pace with the guitarists. Despite the prominence of the keys, the death metal quotient is always high here, with a vaguely MORBID ANGEL feel that never devolves into an outright knockoff. Lots of shredding Azagthothian solos will pierce thy skull during the duration of “Unicursal”.
Drummer Mike Browning keeps a frantic pace on the drums, but his vocals strike me as being rather flat this time out. They are neither death growls nor “regular” metal singing, but a kind of almost spoken narrative that gets rather tedious at times. Thankfully, the lyrics themselves help as Browning continues the tale of his occult cyborg hero Dr. Magus, who this time sets out to steal the powers of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Zombie and serial killer stuff this is not...thank the Dark Gods.
It’s an engaging listen that’s pure NOCTURNUS A.D. and well worth picking up. I just don’t put it on quite the same pedestal as “Paradox”. That album may never be surpassed.