After a promising 2013 demo, Austrian black metal project Nahtrunar returns with a debut full length, titled Symbolismus. It’s a conceptual journey dedicated to the nights that move from an old year to a new one—known in European circles as Rauhnächte—when spiritual portals are supposedly open and gods walk among us. The sound within definitely captures this feel; as it moves between straight ahead black metal, touches of folk and symphonic passages, it will sometimes feel like a dream sequence and others like the dark, brash, early-’90s style of black metal that’s inspired it.

There’s plenty of material here to capture the hearts of even the most discerning black metal fans, and opener “Auf Totenritt Durch Innernächte” goes for the jugular right off the bat. The vocal work here is unmistakably black metal, but at times feels like it wouldn’t be out of place on an early Swedish death metal release. The band showcases a wide array of tempos throughout, but when they take things down a notch, it almost seems as though they’d be a proficient doom act. (Seriously, the slower parts sound just as good as the rest of the album.) “Nauthiz Notfeuer” is similar in style but adds a dreamy-sounding sequence around the halfway mark, and “Symbolismus” injects a symphonic side, immediately making you wish you were in a cold forest, stomping through the snow.

There are four acoustic, folky breaks between the songs that bring in anything from classical sounds to dark, brooding noise, to almost Middle Eastern-sounding flavors. It’s a decent dramatic touch, and I’m sure they helped the band fully realize their concept, but for me, it’s seven minutes of space that could have been spent instead exploring the bombast of the main tracks.

My personal favorite here is “Gestaltenwandler,” whose six-and-a-half-minute run time sees the band explore its most diverse range of influences. Pick any of the best black metal output of the early 90’s and insert pieces of each and you have the totality of this track wrapped up in a battle-torn gift bag, bloodied and half-burned. The vocals are simply relentless through the first half, yet give way to an eerie, diabolical whispered part over a slow paced guitar backdrop.

Overall, this is an exciting debut from Nahtrunar, even if at times it feels a bit long. But with their deep black metal roots, and the clear ability to mold those roots into an epic piece of work, there is nowhere for this band to go but up.

-Josh

Symbolismus is available now June 22nd on Voldsom. For more information on Nahtrunar, visit the band’s Bandcamp page.