Bandcamp Most atmospheric black metal reaches for the cosmic, the ancient, the grandiose. Noctambulist reach for a mortgage. Noctambulist II: De Droom, the second album from this Tilburg outfit, is a blackgaze record about, of all things, the beauty of a mediocre co-habitual existence and the seemingly impossible dream of owning a home, and that unglamorous honesty is its whole heart. Sung in Dutch, its songs turn over domesticity, loss, aspiration and quiet heartbreak, and the cover, a photograph of a derelict villa bedroom, faded grandeur collapsing under dust and insulation, is the perfect image for it: hope and failure in the same crumbling room. It is a genuinely moving idea, black metal scaled down to the size of a life, and the writing takes it seriously.
The songwriting is the real draw, and the band have a strong feel for the blackgaze push-and-pull between fury and reverie. The opener “De Droom is Dood” sets the template well, an unpolished, earthy underground approach with the mastering kept conservative and the dynamics intact, the guitars sliding from a warm, chorused clean arpeggio into a crunchy mid-gain bite. “Duivenbloed & Suiker” is the clearest showcase of their range, moving skillfully between dry, direct hardness and reverb-rich atmospheric passages without being flattened, and “Vinex” hides a lovely surprise, a quiet mid-section around the three-minute mark that opens up into honest, breathing dynamics, the drums precise and punchy around it. When Noctambulist trust the atmosphere and let the loud and quiet actually contrast, the record earns its melancholy.
The reservation runs across most of the album, and it is the master. Too much of De Droom is pushed to a modern, high loudness that compresses the dynamics right when the songs want to swell, and the effect compounds over nine tracks. “Petrichor” is the clearest casualty, extremely compact and hard-hitting but noticeably dynamics-poor, dry and studio-polished with no real live feel, and “Aderlater,” “Godvormig Gat” and the closer “Lang Leve de Droom” all run the ceiling hot enough that the densest passages lose their microdynamics and stack up in the low mids. Blackgaze lives and dies on the swell, the release after the build, and a master this squeezed keeps clipping the wings of exactly the moments the writing sets up. The songs are dynamic; the mix too often is not.
Noctambulist II: De Droom is a heartfelt, atmospheric, unusually humane blackgaze record with a concept that lingers and songwriting that deserves it. Fans of the Alcest and Møl end of the style, especially anyone drawn to black metal that trades the mythic for the real, will find a lot to sit with here, and the Dutch-language intimacy gives it a character all its own. It is held back from something better only by a production that mistakes loud for intense, on music that would soar if it were simply allowed more air. When the album breathes, as on “Vinex” and “Duivenbloed & Suiker,” it is quietly excellent.
Atmospheric blackgaze with a strong feel for the push-and-pull between fury and reverie. The opener “De Droom is Dood” sets the template, an unpolished, earthy approach with conservative mastering and intact dynamics, the guitars sliding from a warm chorused clean arpeggio into a crunchy mid-gain bite. “Duivenbloed & Suiker” moves skillfully between dry direct hardness and reverb-rich atmospheric passages without being flattened, and “Vinex” hides a quiet mid-section around three minutes that opens into honest breathing dynamics with precise, punchy drums. The reservation runs across most of the album: too much is pushed to a modern high loudness that compresses the dynamics right when the songs want to swell. “Petrichor” is the clearest casualty, compact and hard-hitting but dynamics-poor and dry with no live feel, and “Aderlater,” “Godvormig Gat” and closer “Lang Leve de Droom” run the ceiling hot enough that the dense passages lose their microdynamics and stack in the low mids. Blackgaze lives on the swell, and a master this squeezed keeps clipping the wings of the moments the writing sets up. Quietly excellent when it breathes.
Standout tracks: Duivenbloed & Suiker, Vinex, De Droom is Dood
