Nachtlieder is (essentially) a one woman black metal project from Germany, and given the drama surrounding Myrkur, Nachtlieder's new record, The Female Of The Species, immediately caught my attention and made me curious to delve into what the band has to offer. As I dug deeper the more I found out there really isn't much to make this record special and, frankly, it left me bored, wanting something more.
Here's the thing: Nachtlieder creates perfectly passable black metal. The brooding passages on a track like 'Nightfall' wouldn't sound out of place on an Immortal record. That being said, there is just no real incentive, for me at least, to get deeply invested in it. Whereas other one person black metal projects seek to differentiate themselves by reflecting on the individuals unique artistic sensibilities, I never get this sense from Nachtlieder… nothing about the album really piques my curiosity. It simply sounds like the work of someone who has spent years worshiping all the great bands on the Norwegian black metal scene. That doesn't make the album bad – it just simply means that it says nothing to me.
Perhaps it is too high a standard to want an album to really say something; after all I don't really get an overarching message from Immortal either, but at least there you get to trek across frozen landscapes with Abbath. There is no sense of escape with Nachtlieder, nor is the music powerful enough to drag you down into the void. Instead you're left in a kind of nebulous listening space that leaves you wondering what will come next for Nachtlieder. Clearly she's very talented – but can she put together some more exciting songs?
4/10
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