Hailing from Iceland and formed in 2013, Black Metal band NEXION are set to release their sophomore full-length, titled “Sundrung.” “Uþarpaspa” is the first song. Out of the gates, it is a very aggressive sound, and the background is also filled with harrowing elements. The drums shake the room, the vocals sent shivers up your spine, and the guitars create a wall of sound. It slows just a bit here and there to allow the frightening elements to take hold, and their grip is tight around your neck. Clean vocals howl like the icy winds of the North. “Gandr” is equally as frightening, and equally as intense. If their intent was to scare you into hiding under your bed for the rest of your life, cowering in fear, they have accomplished that. The clean vocal chants are just as harrowing.

“Norðr ok Niðr” is another intense song, and the band shows no signs of letting that up. The opening scream is held for what seems like forever. Soon after, it settles into a slower and filthier groove with guttural utterances. Screams rise again overtop, and they can be heard from mountain to mountain. “When Raves Steals the Sun” is a blasphemous offering that spills black filth everywhere you step. It does indeed remind me of the sun being blotted out, and when those days come, it can only mean one thing…the end of the world. The fast-paced guitars and drums in tow produce a haste that is energetic and foreboding. “:ᚦᚦᚦ:” is a shorter diversion, aimed mostly at giving the listener a moment to catch their breath. It is still very dark, and evil.

“Hymn of the Valkyrjur” comes back around to more rage and intensity. Even the slower pace is abreast with an energy that burns like a fire lit with accelerant. It sounds like an anthem for war to me…a war of all undead called together to march on the earth and bring certain death. “Rending the Black Earth” is a sturdy and structured song that the band gains full control of. The bottom end of the song rattles with gutturals and enough bombast that it sounds like an earthquake. The fuse it lit, and it’s just a matter of second before the atomic bomb goes off. “Visions of the Seventh Fire” sounds like an eccentric soothsayer forecasting your doom. Tentative at first, it later takes no prisoners, and the clean vocals put a stamp on the overwhelming feeling of Doom that is in the air.

Overall, this album was an absolute terror of an offering. From the first notes, through the last, they painted a picture of the entire world burning and people with it. Some were burned to death, others were reduced to ash. Through it all, their screams are what will stay with you through the end of your days.