Fresh blood is startlingly ever-pumping through the veins of a practically mouth-to-ear music scene, as is the case of Germany's NECROTIC WOODS enthusiastically paving their alley into music molding and ear pleasing art by knotting a dim atmosphere with hints of musical dexterity as that of the distorted guitars on "Life Is On The Wane". Though overshadowed, they consequently set a boundless cosmos to the vocals, added to it each playing independently instead of merely accentuating each other's chords, freely swaying within the scale framework in an overall unsophisticated vigor coming about all intrinsic.

The juvenile core-ish vocals scream-like (at times pseudo-harshies, not a pejorative mention though) had its moments, taking "Godless" for instance where the vocal overdubs are gradually taking the spotlight while the guitars are getting slightly attenuated prior to their re-accentuation for instrumental passages with somehow alluring breakdowns and bass riffs. As a matter of fact, a Black Metal track gains points by ditching the unproductive crammed full tremolo and double drum kicks excess, for the latter can make you walk on eggshells during the songwriting process. Either a pass or fail.

The challenge of equilibrium while distributing the sound volume was wisely scrutinized on "Indifferent Sun", relieving the listener's sensitive receptors from time to time with down-to-earth but much fancied delightful breaks as well as heart-melting bass even playing pure and plain fundamentals. Still, another challenge inevitably forces its way in: what to do next to fill a five-minute track? The answer figured bel et bien an incessant global shift tackling monotony by raising the listener's anticipation level - checked out, too! For further notice, an additional glorious moment worth mentioning is "A Hundred Ropes" brilliantly mingling the dominant Black with a primitive heavy Metal in an arcane stand by vibe.

Coming to the title track "The Nameless Dark" supposedly the best crop of the record, it was rather Doom-inclined mainly during the intro slightly progressing to the standard tremolo. Yet this time, you barely get jaded as each time something hot and new pops up swinging all over and crafting a dynamic, groovy and multifaceted track that you only have to listen to if you know what I mean, although it's not the only asset of the record. Bonus point!

Serene and ruthless at once, "Languor" incarnates the yin and yang duality mingling two polar opposites in a worked up storyteller style doom where vocals are core, backed up by the instruments with breakdowns to sip air, thus sewing miscellaneous chapters and moods making of it in fact the longest track on the record, gradually wrapped by the tempo steady dwindling of "A Funeral Shroud Cast Upon The Late World" that's paradoxically capable to fire up a crowd.

All in all - for a Black metal album - one has to conceive such music performed live, envisage the outcome and watch one's body react. As for me, it had an optimistic aura hopefully extended to later records by NECROTIC WOODS.