WEEK 157 – NAILED TO OBSCURITY

My HeadBangers welcome from Esens, Germany, the  melancholic melodic death metal band:

NAILED TO OBSCURITY

“Liquid Mourning”

Ok my HeadBangers, do you hear those growl vocals.  I just sat here with my mouth open.  Growl vocals are my thing and I did not expect to hear what I just heard.  LOVE IT!!!!!

I sent Nailed a message to see if I could get an interview without knowing that they are on a tour of the US right now.  Another surprise, but I like surprises.  So this week no Q&A, but they wanted to do it so as soon as they get back with me I will do an update.  Go to FB and see all the pics of where they are playing.  They look like they are having a ball.  I was so excited to learn more about this band from Germany.  So let’s get to it.

“Black Frost”

DAMN!!!!!!!!!

OK let’s get to their bio (taken from their site)

 Nestled at whatever-end of Lower Saxony, where the East Frisian Islands form a barrier against the wailing North Sea, the town of 7,000 has slept the years away. Most people haven’t heard of Esens, once home to Baroque composer Philipp Heinrich Erlebach. But if they have, they’ve often confused it with Essen, Germany’s ninth largest city. Well, that’s about to change. Not the confusing part, but the fact that rising death metal stars NAILED TO OBSCURITY are about to put Esens on the proverbial map with new album, »Black Frost«, their first for Nuclear Blast Records.

Formed in 2005 by teenagers Jan-Ole Lamberti (guitars) and Volker Dieken (guitars), NAILED TO OBSCURITY went through the usual ups and downs as a band. The Germans took their name from a song off HATE ETERNAL’s debut album, »Conquering The Throne«, but that’s another story for another time. Mere months after forming, NAILED TO OBSCURITY issued their first demo, »Our Darkness«.
While most bands live and die on the possibility of signing a label deal, NAILED TO OBSCURITY persevered, releasing their debut album, »Abyss«, independently in 2007. Certainly, line-up shifts were part of the progression as a band, but Lamberti and Dieken -the band’s primary songwriters -pushed on, with Jann Hillrichs (drums) and Carsten Schorn (bass) forming the rhythmic foundation. By the time, the group ushered in »Opaque« in 2013 and »King Delusion« in 2017 -both for German independent Apostasy Records -they were a different band entirely. BURIAL VAULT vocalist Raimund Ennenga had replaced Alexander Dirks in 2012, and the rest, at least for the present, is history. 

Today, NAILED TO OBSCURITY remain Lamberti and Dieken’s labor of love, but the duo are far from authoritarian in the way they write music. In fact, while the two axe-slingers comprise the creative core, NAILED TO OBSCURITY complete songs as a band. They flesh out ideas, structures, and arrangements together, jamming in front of one another instead of the computer or bedroom wall.   This is something
that persists to this very day. Even as recording technology advances at a frantic pace and members of NAILED TO OBSCURITY are spread out over Germany, they still shack up on weekends in the rehearsal room in Esens to write together. That’s how new album, »Black Frost«, was born. 

“Normally, it’s me and the other guitar player Volker [Dieken] writing the main structures,” says Jan-Ole Lamberti. “We write the riffs and collect the main ideas for the songs. [For »Black Frost«], we started one year ago. We wrote together on the weekends. We don’t live too close to one another now, so that’s how we had to write. We started that in September or October and then in January we sat with the rest of the band to arrange and elaborate the actual songs. From March on, we rehearsed from Friday evenings to Sunday evenings. Over that time period, the album was written. Volker and I would obviously record ideas on our own, but to arrange the songs we did it with the rest of the band in the rehearsal room. Like we always do. That’s a process that’s worked really well for us.”

Songs like ‘Tears Of The Eyeless,’ ‘The Aberrant Host,’ ‘Road To Perdition,’ and the magnificent title track were part of NAILED TO OBSCURITY’s weekend forays into the depths of melodic death metal (and beyond). The frantic pace at which »Black Frost« was written, however, didn’t impact the quality of songcraft. Whereas »King Delusion« focused on the pairing of savagery and melody, »Black Frost« changes up the formula. Call it maturity or desire to present ideas differently, NAILED TO OBSCURITY’s new songs churn, swirl, and coalesce around and into Ennenga’s engaging if cloudy psychosocial lyrics. They have presence. They’re empowered by Lamberti and Dieken’s soaring lead-riffs, melancholic dissonance, and careful introspection, but come to life after Hillrichs, Schorn, and Ennenga – whose growl is a must-hear – come into play. Clearly, »Black Frost« is something special.

“In the beginning, we had the problem [writing »Black Frost«],” Lamberti says.  “We were trying to do the same thing as the last record, »King Delusion«. What I mean by that is »King Delusion« was the first record where we were completely satisfied with everything. We realized that wouldn’t really work out for us. If anything, the follow-up would be a copy and definitely not better than »King Delusion«. We skipped all that and started from scratch. That’s when the actual songwriting began. Our main goal was to do something different from that point on. I think »Black Frost« sounds like NAILED TO OBSCURITY – there are a lot of similarities – but it’s different. Instead of having classical lead guitar, which we had on the last two albums, we’ve diminished that in favor of more ambient sounds created on the guitar.”

Lyrically, »Black Frost« continues Ennenga’s fascination with struggle, strife, and self-control. The album title was plucked from a concept inspired by seafaring terminology. While at sea, ships may become over-burdened by black frost, a phenomenon where fog or rain freezes to the moorings or masts causing ships to become unbalanced. Unbalanced ships capsize easily. Ennenga took this concept to heart, applying it to humans, who struggle to control fear, anger, or rage. The idea is a cautionary tale to all of us to not let the black frost over-burden our minds. 

Where NAILED TO OBSCURITY take »Black Frost« from here is on tour. As much as the Germans enjoy the creative process and working in the studio, they are, in the end, a live band. A really good live band. They have the track record – where they were either direct support for ARCH ENEMY, PARADISE LOST, and AT THE GATES or main support for DARK TRANQUILLITY – to show for it. Additionally, NAILED TO OBSCURITY have also performed in front of thousands at festivals like Wacken Open Air, Party.San Metal Open Air, and Bloodstock Open Air. So, watch out for NAILED TO OBSCURITY! They’ll be in everywhere in 2019 in support of »Black Frost«.

“Tears Of The Eyeless”

 Let’s meet the band:

Raimund Ennenga – Vocals
Jan-Ole Lamberti – Guitar
Volker Dieken – Guitar
Carsten Schorn – Bass
Jann Hillrichs – Drums

My Thoughts:

This is one of those bands that I would have loved to done a Q&A with, but touring always comes first, so we will just be patient till they get back with me.  In the meantime check out their music on UTube, they have FB, Instagram, Twitter.  Go check them out.  I’ll get back with all my HeadBangers once the interview is available.

Well that’s it for this week.  Join me next week for another band and another song.  In the meantime don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..