Customer Reviews

Nemesis Divina

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This albums shows Satyricon taking a much more violent & grim approach to song writing. The music is now much more haunting, the drumming of Frost is ferocious, and the vocals of Satyr amazing. Satyricon was a band that basically started the "medieval" themes in Black Metal with their debut "Dark Medieval Times" (masterpiece). On their Sophmore effort, "The Shadowthrone", they showed us a much more atmospheric & melodic side of themselves. Now with "Nemesis Divina", they show us their raw & chaotic nature. The true highlight of this recording is Satyr's godlike vocals. He ferociously rasps his vocals, and emphasizes certain words to give the songs more feeling. This is especially evident in "Dawn of a New Age" and "Forhekset". With his style of vocals, it almost sounds like he is narrating, and the instruments are the sound effects as to what he is saying. Again, this is very evident on "Dawn of a New Age"...listen to that song with headphones while reading the lyrics and you'll see what I mean. A completely godlike release, and Satyricon's best to date!!

Satyricon is undoubtfully one of the most talented artists in Black Metal. Nearly all of Satyr's records have been experimental (even "Dark Medieval Times", the debut album), never sounding alike. It works quite well, especially for those who are looking for something different from metal that has Satanism mentioned to the point of untolerably ludicrous (Dimmu Borgir, Deicide). If you're one of those people, this album is surely it.

"Nemesis Divina" is the 3rd chapter in a story which Satyr has told, beginning with "Dark Medieval Times". Here, after he became the King of the Shadowthrone (at the end of "The Shadowthrone"), he has summoned the powers of hell to help him conquer the forces of the light. This is narrated and illustrated in the album's opener, "The Dawn Of A New Age", which rips right through your speakers with technical guitar strings, ferocious blast beats, and Satyr growling through the vocal in the intro, "THIS IS ARMAGEDDON!" From this point on, you know you're in for a musical experience.

Like a story, the album's tracks flow together, pulling you into the following: The raging technicality of "The Dawn Of A New Age", the grinding dance of death, "Forhekset" (meaning "Bewitched" in English), the beautiful, epic melodies of "Mother North", the hell-spawned grooves of "Du Som Hater Gud"(translates to "You Who Hate God". The lyrics, while blasphemous in English, are laughable when in that language. So it's good they're sung in Norwegian), the landscape of a towering, snow-covered mountain generated in "Immortality Passion", the evil chantings and thrashings of "Nemesis Divina", and the unsettling, haunting closer "Transcedental Requiem of Slaves".

Satyr's vocals are vicious, as if in rapture, and are also narrative in some ways, which helps with the barbed, technical guitar of Kveldulv (known as "Nocturno Culto" in Darkthrone) and Frost's tireless drumming skills to create the chaos and atmosphere of "The Conquering" which takes place throughout the album.

The production is great, giving all the instruments a top-notch sound. The mixing, while good, could've been better, though, as the drums seem to get drowned out by the symbals in a couple places. But once you've gotten into the music, you hardly notice it.

Be warned, newcomers. The album is almost entirely relentless (with fewer mellow bits than in "The Shadowthrone" or "Dark Medieval Times") and not for the faint of heart. Still, this album is perfect for new Satyricon fans, once they've adapted to it's uniqueness, that is.

All in all, an incredible piece of work no true Black Metal fan should be without. Definately something for the more diverse metalhead.

Other cool bands in the genre to check out: Cradle of Filth, Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, Dragon Lord, Diabolical Masquerade, Burzum, Darkthrone

I had heard that Nemesis Divina was one of the greatest black metal albums of all time but it took me a year to actaully find it in a local shop and buy it. As you open the cd case you are greeted by a wonderful 20-PAGE BOOKLET, which includes great pictures, lyrics, just about everything you need in a album booklet, even the norwegian lyrics are written.once you put the cd in for the first time you will think its an ok cd but eventually, trust me it will become one of the best in your collection. The album opens witht he amazingly difficult fast tremelo, and eventually grows to a beutiful clean melody, with a wonderful backing bass line, each carrying their own melody. All of this on the first track "The dawn of a New Age". You are then pulled in a little more into the world of Satyricon by the opening notes of "Forhekset", then to the haunting lyrics done by Satyr. Then onto one of the two best pieces "Mother North" with its beautiful melodies. Next comes the aggressive, evil "Du Som hater gud" which goes from amazingly evil to a nice rennesaince(?spelling) like piano line. After that is another favorite of mine "Immortality Passion" with an awesome grooving(yes something that grooves in black metal) guitar part. THe title track is more like The Dawn of a New Age. and finally the album closes with a great dual guitar melody piece called "Transcendental Requiem of Slaves". So basically get the CD its worth watever money you pay for it, and at 42 minutes with 7 songs you can't go wrong.

"Nemesis Divina" is truly a black metal masterpiece, possessing all the essential qualities of the that particular genre. However, Satyricon draws significantly from grim medieval musical themes, which Satyr is capable of implementing quite effectively. The most brilliant track is "Mother North", an epic & monumental piece that gracefully moves between technical blast beat ferocity & spellbinding interludes of enchanting evil. The remaining compositions solidify Satyricon's position as one of the most lethal black metal organizations on the market and displays the band's noteworthy maturation from their previous output, "The Shadowthrone". This album is self-produced, by Satyr of course, and is of the highest quality. The booklet is a 20 page glossy colour collection of grim lyrics & photos of the coprse painted, axe wielding warriors behind this phenomenal concoction. By the way, Kveldulv is also Nocturno Culto of Dark Throne. Buy it, for who shall be able to stand?

This CD, In The Nightside Eclipse from Emperor, and Battles In The North from Immortal are the 3 titans of what i would call true black metal. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Under A Funeral Moon, Nattens Madrigal, theyre all very good, but those 3 are perfect examples of the best of the best. Theyre not the most underground CDs at all, in fact its just that theyre famous for a reason. Theyre damn good. Theyre daaamn good. Nemesis Divina is my favorite CD out there and if you like black metal you will like it. It is a CD where practically every riff is one of those trademark 'black metal moments', and thats because every riff is perfect, every blast beat is perfect because Frost is ridiculously talented, and the vocals are among Satyr's best. If you can get the songs Nemesis Divina or Mother North before you buy this cd you should, and if you do you will probably buy this CD. It seems like every song is of the caliber or better than the song the 'shadowthrone' from their CD before this, which was the most stand out track on that CD. It's faster than their other CDs by the way, its a little more technical but only because they rely more on performance and instruments than sound effects and chanting, making this CD leaning towards more battles in the north than in the nightside. So to all the puritans, i know this isnt underground, this is one of the most famous black metal bands around, but like said, theyre famous for a reason, not because theyre softer or anything, no matter how much more mainstream this is than northwood ice pentagrams or small projects that nobodys heard of, its always going to be only liked by people who know black metal and love it, because this is it's king.

If you like black metal then you have to have heard of Satyricon. Satyr, Frost, and Kvelduv are forces to be reckoned with. The album has a well balanced mix of heaviness, speed, and melody coupled with awsome guitar riffs and Satyr's dark vocals. My personal fav is Mother North. You can't go wrong with Satyricon if you truly like hardcore Nordic black metal. I say go ahead and order it. The price here is much better than that of a music store if you can even find it there. Happy listening. Check out the video if you can as well!

I heard rebel extravaganza and I wasn't too impressed with these guys. But a friend kept telling me that nemesis divina is the one to get. So I did and man this is one I can play over and over without getting sick of it. I like the production and the overall sound to the album. Good vocals, guitars and drums. All the tracks are laid out well. Check out if you're a true black metal fan. It will shred you.

When this beast of a LP roars up on its legs to devour everything and everyone, you know you are in for some exceptional black metal. "The Conquering/Dawn of a New Age" contains minor folk touches interlaced with barbwire, razor sharp riffing, Satyr's hate-filled, evocative rasps, and Frost's controlled-chaos drumming. Racing like an infernal train almost derailing but assured of its destination, "Nemesis . . ." is haunting, grim, eldritch, beautiful, terrifying, violent, epic, spiritual, and angry. The songs are individualistic yet make up a global scope in the album's totality. With help from Darkthrone's bassist, Satyricon have crafted one hellish ride worthy of your collection. "Mother North" is a favorite for most of the listening audience . . . not surprising. If I didn't like Emperor so much, Satyricon would rule my Book of Shadows of black metal.

It is sad that this is the 3rd review of an album that came out more than 5 years ago. But I just did one for Volcano (also very good) and I wanted to peruse to see what other people thought of this all-time black metal classic.

I will be listening to this album when I'm a toothless old bastard in a nursing home confined to a bed and I will force my nurse to listen to it as well. That's how good this album is. It is one of the, if not THE single best black metal album of all time. Period.

This album represents the creative peak of a band whose previous works were good and showed signs of musical maturation. The intense blastbeats, the deep yet clear and crisp rasping vocals, the long intricate melodies picked at blinding speeds, the dissonant melodicism - all of Satyricon's trademarks are perfectly blended into an album that did so much to define black metal. This album is the yard stick against which all other black metal albums are to be measured (even Satyricon's later releases) and will be for a long time to come.

Nemesis Divina a transitional album for Satyricon. One could listen to Dark Medieval Times or Shadowthrone and then compare it to the likes of Rebel Extravaganza and see two completely different approaches to black metal. Nemesis Divina bridges the gap - moving towards the ultra tight, almost clinical, cold and industrial tinged sound of their more recent work whilst retaining the mystical atmosphere of their Viking metal roots. The acoustic guitars are replaced by a clean electric and this time around you can actually hear the bass. There's little doubt that the band's technical ability, especially that of drummer Frost, has improved lightyears beyond their debut (which, whilst a great album and probably my favourite from the band, can sound cheap and unprofessional at times with the band falling out of time with each other).

If you like black metal then Satyricon do it better than most. Here are a band that weren't afraid to produce their music properly yet never compromised the black metal sound by recording over the top cheese-fests.