It's not often that we hear of bands hailing from Croatia, and especially not raw Black Metal bands, making the one-man band TENEBROSITAS a bit of an oddity. With the release of his second album "Forever Nothing" in May this year, following up from last year's debut full-length album "Embraced By The All Devouring Void", KKTZ has amped things up, giving "Forever Nothing" a more accessible sound than its predecessor.

The first thing that really strikes me about the opening song, "Only Pain Arrives", is the scale used in the opening riffs: using major scales gives the whole song a joyful and happy tone. Whilst this does occasionally switch back to minor chords here and there, there is still a jovial air, reminding me of other bands attempts at jocundity, such as NARGAROTH's "Frühling". This feels horribly out of place, but is thankfully not really repeated again, with the remainder of "Forever Nothing" running in a colder vein, using repetitive riffs to create an inhospitable atmosphere, getting better as the album progresses. Barring the oddball first song, "Forever Nothing" is a grim canvas portraying frozen soundscapes of desolation and despair. On the flip side, I can think of hundreds of other releases that have pretty much nailed this sound too, with sadly nothing on "Forever Nothing" making it stand out from the rest. The mixing could also have been better; whilst the raw aspect is obviously a given considering the genre, the vocals nevertheless are almost constantly drowned out by the other instruments, weakening what would have otherwise been a fine counterpoint to the music. A further problem with one-man-bands, and one to which TENEBROSITAS is unfortunately no exception, is summed up rather succinctly by the old adage "Jack of all trades, master of none". Without being able to focus on one or two instruments, it is very difficult to become more than mediocre at all of them. Still, having said this, there is definitely some potential in "Forever Nothing": KKTZ has minimalism down to an art, and he knows how to use this Spartan approach in his song-writing.

With "Forever Nothing" being available as a free download, you don't have anything to lose by giving TENEBROSITAS a listen. Don't expect anything revolutionary or ground-breaking, but if it's minimalistic raw Black Metal that you're into, then look no further.