Ventr – Numinous Negativity

Band: Ventr
Title: Numinous Negativity
Label: Signal Rex
Release date: 09 October 2020
Country: Portugal
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording

Metal from Portugal is always fun, isn’t it? Well, at least its important we keep broadening our horizon and give all metal a chance. This week a big chance was given as Ventr debut release EP “Numinous Negativity” had become available. The four-track work is short but sweet, and I must say GET IT! GET IT NOW!

“Omnipresent Abominations” starts this one out in an old school black metal way and the first thing that strikes is how well performed it is. Quite tight, and even with the usual analog demo cassette kind of so sounding production it feels like it is so by choice, rather then being the result of a crappy recording alternatives. Enjoyable melodies are built into the wall of sound that the constant chord guitars offer with extremely powerful vocals.

Next up is “Our Altar of Murderous Fanaticism”, so neatly titled. We are treated once again with tons of quite depressive yet powerful melodies and very a very unsettling mood. The way the drummer performs in such a different way from what I usually hear gave this track quite another level of quality. There is a shuffle feel to the pace of this track and some would say this group would fit very well in with others such as Mayhem or Darkthrone, however perhaps with a bit more of structured awareness. Its not all hopeless and depressive, the music itself is extraordinarily strong and the typical stereotypes of old school black metal is a secondary thing here. The fact that both songs so far are quite long does not seem to matter; the quality of performance and how the tracks are written completely make up for it.

The title track “Numinous Negativity” and honestly it wasn’t what I was expecting. It starts out with dark sounding string and choir synths, setting the dark and horrific mood and before long some piano tones are added which cause an even stronger horror sounding character. This track acts as a middle piece thing, a breather, if you will. But in no way did it let me down, on the contrary it’s a rather strong one.

“A Dagger to Worship” brings up the rear as the drums pound on with toms while the guitars and vocals do their thing. I couldn’t help but nod my head to the beat as it changed into a nice flowing steady one before going into the traditional grind-beat. The track intensifies in every way as it goes along but then again, it was built on a great foundation set by the riffs and drums so it wasn’t exactly a surprise as it lifts a bit every time a small thing is added here and there.

What gives these tracks another layer of much appreciated depth is how the trustworthy and powerful vocals often follow the melodies of the guitars. I wish this EP was a full-length album, I really do wish it was longer, that there was more. This is a true gem in the black metal history. 9/10 Julia Katrin

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9/10 : Epic Storm!
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