New Release: Niphredil
Niphredil’s Fractures in the Crystal Vault: Doom, Dreams, and the Weight of Silence
Ecuador’s Niphredil has always walked the tightrope between crushing doom and ethereal melancholy, no mean feat when your songs stretch like shadows at dusk. Their new two-track EP, Fractures in the Crystal Vault, doesn’t just lean into that balance; it lingers there, like a half-remembered nightmare you can’t shake.
The band’s been a slow-burning ember since 2017, when their self-titled EP finally clawed its way out of label limbo. After years of false starts and lineup shuffles (only guitarists Lucas Serrano and José Miguel remain from the original five), they’ve returned with something deceptively small but densely packed. Fractures is all about mystical introspection: lyrics steeped in classical literature, riffs that breathe like fog over a graveyard. Think early Katatonia meeting Skeletonwitch’s melodic bite, but with the patience of a doom act that knows silence is its sharpest weapon.
The EP’s two tracks "The Masked Seer" and "Death by Dreaming" unfold like chapters in some lost grimoire. The former slithers in with tremolo-picked despair before collapsing into a funeral march; the latter drifts between blackened snarls and clean, haunting refrains. It’s the kind of music that demands you listen, not just hear. No filler, no fat: just 20 minutes of meticulous despair.
Self-released and unapologetically niche, Fractures feels like a love letter to the kind of fans who still buy cassettes (shout to Insane Asylum for finally giving their 2017 EP a physical run). obsession with atmosphere over aggression is downright refreshing.
If you’ve ever stared at a candle until your vision blurred and wondered what the flames were whispering, this EP’s for you.
Stream/Buy: Bandcamp | Spotify
Commentaires
Enregistrer un commentaire