Negativa continues their solid atmospheric black metal streak on '04'.
In the reins of black metal, Negativa unleashes straightforward and potent black metal records for the past decade at this point. And it’s mostly what you’ll get for their past releases, steady progressions that bloom into ravenous blast beats and noisy guitar riffs, sometimes touching towards moodier atmospheres that do not pull away from the already solid foundations in their compositions. It’s not groundbreaking in the black metal scene, but it makes up for easy to go back to black metal records, especially for those that might be new to the genre or those who have a fond liking for this side of black metal.
And with 04, they still string out a consistent, crushing strain of black metal. Possibly their most crisp sounding record to date as the raw textures pop out the most than their past records, and slithering in those distorted and moody textures on parts of this record fleshes out the atmosphere of this record. It will take a bit to grasp the tunes as it captures subtle melodic progressions with the wailing guitars and clean drums sprawling in tempos that will blast forth as the tracks move along.
There could have been more of those depressing, bleaker textures and made those drum melodies feel more full as they don’t match the realized guitar melodies that are making the soundscapes sound beautiful.
It’s a black metal record that might not be exactly groundbreaking in the scene but still manages to make a ferocious, atmospheric album that has the tunes and textures to back it up. Which makes it quite accessible enough to make you listen to it a couple of times, enough to stick in your head for good reason.
Favorite Tracks: XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXIX
Least Favorite Track: XXIII