Nothnegal

Following the release of Decadence, Nothnegal's self-titled EP follow-up represents the complete opposite of the band's original work. Instead of intense, heavy riffs accompanied by overbearing keyboards, there's a considerable amount of space to this album. Hypnotic guitars creep in and out of tribal drum beats, seamlessly leading you through all four tracks — you think you're still on the opening song until your headphones go quiet. Nothnegal fully admit that the EP is an experimental release and that the four tracks are, in fact, not a beacon of change for the band's musical interests. That's a shame, considering the record is an incredible piece of progressive music. In fact, this is a far more significant effort from Nothnegal than their debut. That might sound crass, but the 16 minutes of music captured here contain a sound that's not relatable to anything else. It's understandable, given the band's original fanbase, if Nothengal don't intend to fully embrace the cryptic powers of progressive music, but it's difficult to see how they could create such a brilliant piece of work and then just walk away from it. Hopefully, the musical experiences found on this EP won't be ignored and the group fuse these sonic experiments with their original sound going forward.