Exclusive Video Premiere: Nixil’s “Never Rise Again”
Valentine’s Day this year was a pretty good day for me. I was able to sleep in a bit, my wife and I went to a nice dinner, and then a professional performance of Swan Lake, and I was offered the opportunity to premiere the new Nixil track. Nothing but winning that day! For this article, I’m fairly certain that it’s only the third item readers care about, so let me focus on that.
I’ve been a fan of Nixil since before the beginning. I was fortunate enough to be on the correct list at my former site, meaning I received an advance copy of All Knots Untied, the 2021 debut by the Baltimore black metallers. That stellar album was followed in 2023 by From the Wound Spilled Forth Fire. I have favorably reviewed both these albums, interviewed the band twice (including on camera), and managed to see them live, where they were everything I hoped for. In short, I’m a super fan.
First, a few general words about the split as a whole. On Toward Dead Temples, we are gifted with about 17 minutes of new Nixil across three tracks, followed by about 11 minutes of new Drouth split between two tracks. All are worthy of your attention. Oftentimes, it feels like splits are made up of leftover tracks by each band, but here the five tracks work well together, and the bands are a great fit. I recommend keeping your eyes on this one, and go see them on tour together in May, if you’re on the West coast (further details about that below).
The real reason we are here though, is to discuss the video for the first track from the split, “Never Rise Again.” Visually, the video features a prominent crucifix, an altar, and lots of blood. I’ll let you watch yourself to get the full effect, but the themes here seem more along the orthodox black metal line, versus the gnosticism prevalent in earlier work. Indeed, the line repeated at the end is, “INRI to never rise again,” which seems to point to this conclusion. In speaking of the song, the band steps back and takes a wider view (again, showing why they are a favorite of mine, with the themes they point to):
“Never Rise Again” is a culling song intending to sever the head of the great lion serpent of burgeoning theocratic fascism. May the oppressor and his lackeys in all their forms be struck down by the swiftly swinging blade of the reaper! May their worthless husks fall and rot where they lay!
Musically, the track moves away from the furious dense riffing and tightly coiled attack with which I associate the Baltimore quartet. That is, I thought so until I decided to listen to all three releases in a row. While the track here does contain furious riffing, it also feels a little more spacious, in a way, but this actually isn’t new. By going back to the band’s earlier work, I found three examples of this slightly more open sound on the final track from each album, as well as track three from the second album. Others have moments of this, but I would say that only a minority of the band’s tracks have this greater openness as a primary focus. This is by no means meant to be derogatory, but rather just an observation. It works very well! Take the time to judge for yourself, and be sure to compare to the past albums.
To celebrate the release of this monumental split, the two bands are embarking on a West coast tour in May, following the April 24th release date. See the poster below for when they will hit your town.
Toward Dead Temples will be released independently on vinyl, CD, and cassette on April 24th. Get your copy from Drouth on their Bandcamp here or Nixil on Bandcamp here or their website here. You know I’ll be ordering my copy!
Album artwork by Ash Nix.
