NEMUS ANIMA is a one-man Melodic Black Metal band from Finland. This is Topi’s second full- length album, and it has nine songs. “Talking dead” is first. Although the album has some amateur qualities, particularly in the rhythm and cadence, the sound is well put together. There is a contentious, aggressive riff, evil sounding vocals, and some melody in the background. “Don’t breathe” has a heavier, sturdier riff with some blast beat drumming. Although there are snippets of melody, the gas pedal is pushed to the floor here and Topi doesn’t let up. “The smith” has more dissonance and sounds closer to the traditional Black Metal sound, especially in the scratchy vocals. Smartly though, he still uses some melody behind the scenes.

“Wisps in the cosmos” changes up the sound, entering with solemn piano notes and strings. But it quickly transitions to a very aggressive sound. It also becomes more chaotic as it moves. “River of skeletons” is another that begins with clean and solemn tones, and the kind of melody that sticks with you, through the heavier tones. There is good deal of meat on the album so far, but not a lot of sides if you will. “Decaying” has a similar pace, but a totally devastating sound, akin to complete hopelessness. The really cool part of the song however is the slowed section near the middle. “Sheeps” might be a statement reflecting man’s propensity to follow others blindly. Unfortunately, the song has some real phasing issues.

“Weightless” closes the album, and it has a combination of aggression and sadness. First, you have to respect an artist who plays every instrument on an album and is responsible for all of the compositions. With that in mind however, too many songs were plagued with phasing issues in the rhythms. These kinds of things can be mixed out, but he probably lacked the money to do so. Although this is Metal in its prime form, it just wasn’t overly exciting for me.