Nightbringer - Death and the Black Work (2008)

I have a dream that one day someone in Sweden will rhapsodize American black metal the way we rhapsodize their early death metal. In 20 years when we have RFID chips in our brains, and the Greys are riding on the subway, and the Bush family is finally outed as reptilian, some disenfranchised six-foot-six (ahem... two meter) 6th grader will push a button on his own head, project a keyboard onto the Ikea lunch table he’s sitting alone at, and type up his first blog post at Ologisk Grej (ya that’s Swedish for Illogical Contraption in case you didn’t know).

And the first American black metal band that I imagine he will rhapsodize is the Rocky Mountain occultist behemoth Nightbringer. (He and I will have that in common because this is my first post for you fine folks.)

He won’t care that they’ve released two of the same songs on three different albums (ok to be fair 2 of them were comps, but still). He won't care that they went all pretentious and self-proclaimed to be black metal of a "higher caliber".

All little Bjorn will know is that if he's lucky, the first song he will hear is Of Silence and Exsanguination, off Death and the Black Work. He will have 2 minutes of brooding ambiance to light candles and turn off the lights before he hears the first semblance of a musical instrument, and he has another 30 seconds or so to get out the fucking bedpan cuz shit is gonna get messy when the vocals kick in.

At which point he’s sucked under the tide, and a minute later he’s drowning so far under it that he has no idea which way is up. They sound like death at the bottom of the ocean and to me encapsulate the sound of absolute fear.

So, you know, if that’s your thing, you’ll totally be one of Bjorn’s bros someday.

They used to put on a free festival in a remote area of the Rockies every year, near their home in Green Mountain Falls, though this year it seems they opted to play Maryland Death Fest instead. (Hey even the blackest of the black need to pay rent.) I went one year and it was killer. There was no stage, just a big fire pit and some tiki torches, and the power came from a generator 20 feet away. I remember some female friend of the band trying to spraypaint a small Roman column meant as a prop for their show, and she asked one of the dudes for help. He just said “I’ll help you take off your top,” and kept walking.

Worth seeing live just to see the facepaint and mic stand. They use bogus names and do the corpse paint thing, but... aw hell... they are of a higher caliber. No doubt.

So without further ado I present to you, from way back in 2008, their first full-length, Death and the Black Work.

Download Here / Purchase Here (at least, that’s your best bet)

Metallum / Last.fm

Yes indeedy, another addition to the hallowed ranks of the IllCon Team! These a beast hails from the hoary, grey wastes of the (B)east Coast of these United States, and brings with him a wealth of cryptic and forbidden knowledge. He enjoys long walks on the beach, fireside cocktails, and horrific, Christ-raping black metal. Welcome him properly in the comments section. HAILS.

- Cobras