URARV - Nychta Psychis

'Dødheimsgard' opens with an immediately impressive vocal performance, shifting from primal screams into traditional black metal rasping and back to pain-laden, throaty outbursts. Beneath that unmistakable Norwegian roughness sits a constantly noticeable bass line, occasionally heavy metal-leaning drums and creative riff work. The press sheet promised "adventurous instrumentation", and apparently that means listening to Norwegian black metal while a heavy metal and almost doom-like bass moves underneath, an unusual combination, but one that gives the track considerable character. Towards the end, ritualistic chanting enters the mix, adding another layer to an already varied opener and offering our first real glimpse of just how unconventional this album might become.

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'Nychta Psychis' takes a more ambient approach, opening with crackling fire, nocturnal sounds and calming acoustic guitars, soon joined by a warm, deep bass line. Narrative clean vocals emerge almost unexpectedly, occasionally interrupted by rasping black metal screams that pull the song into a far wilder and more aggressive soundscape. Warning, almost accusing vocals then descend with immense weight, growing increasingly eerie and otherworldly as the composition progresses, at times, it genuinely feels like the track is playing with your mind. Through all these shifts, however, that constant melodic bass remains underneath, acting as an anchor and keeping the song connected even as everything around it becomes increasingly strange. 

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'When Consciousness Identifies With Matter It Is Lost' immediately carries a stronger old-school black metal character, driven by cymbal-heavy drumming and distorted, trance-like riffing. But there it is again: that melodic bass line, constantly catching the ear beneath all the aggression. Once the vocals arrive, another surprise follows as thrash-like elements creep into the composition. Aldrahn’s versatility becomes particularly apparent here, shifting between raw aggression and more unconventional expressions without breaking the song’s flow. URARV clearly have little interest in respecting black metal's boundaries, constantly moving between avant-garde experimentation and the genre’s harsher roots. Hard-hitting drums and ominous synths eventually bring this strange collision to an appropriately unsettling end.

The album’s shortest track arrives with 'Operation Genocide', and fittingly, its opening carries an immediate darkness, although the mood is far more difficult to pin down than the title might suggest. Almost uplifting yet ominous vocals collide with heavy synths, fast riffing and urgent drumming, creating a strange mixture of energy and unease. I like how URARV seem determined to approach their music from every possible angle, although that naturally raises the question of whether it can occasionally become too much. Here, however, the experimentation feels less like excess and more like a form of expression that simply needs some time to fully sink in. 

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'Youniverse' closes our journey through "Nychta Psychis", with an opening stereo effect leading directly into a fast-approaching black metal assault. Poison-dripping vocals clash with heavily distorted, rapidly played riffs, and of course, that melodic bass line remains impossible to ignore. Around the midpoint, the pace briefly breaks and the atmosphere begins drifting towards insanity, driven by increasingly unhinged vocals and a rhythm section that soon erupts into controlled chaos. Yet beneath all that madness lies deliberate structure: as the track fades, the final sounds we hear are the same warm acoustic tones encountered earlier, bringing this strange journey full circle.

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With "Nychta Psychis", URARV proved that experimentation does not have to mean abandoning black metal's roots. Raw aggression constantly collides with melodic bass lines, acoustic passages, synths and an impressively versatile vocal performance, creating an album that feels unpredictable yet surprisingly cohesive. At times, the sheer number of ideas demands patience, but beneath the apparent chaos lies thoughtful songwriting that rewards closer listening. Strange, fearless and unmistakably its own.

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SCORE 8.5/10

REVIEWED BY SWAMPY