Nastrond

Toteslaut (1995)

Nastrond were similar to lot of the more well-known Swedish Black Metal bands of the period in the way that they incorporated elements of the classic heavy metal formula into their music. There are huge, dramatic melodic sections that soar above the rest of the music, like those epic chorus sections of the 1980s. However, Nastrond also mix these with violent Black Metal riffing that drips with the occult mysticism of bands like Beherit and at times the rhythmic intensity (with those nasty minor chords) of bands like Gorgoroth. The beauty of Toteslaut lies in the delicate balancing act between ferocious carnality and shamanistic transcendence.

The more melodic sections are reminiscent of Sacramentum, with those dark alluring riffs, however instead of the foggy atmosphere, it has a rawer edge, a kind of mysterious, undead / graveyard aura. Part of creating this aura of death and decay are the throaty rasping vocals, which give the impression of being "sung" by necromancer or some other kind of blood magician. The lyrical themes of bloody rituals, bones, necromancy, gruesome acts of violence etc. support this impression. Keyboards are selectively used as an extra layer of harmony with the guitars. As they are not constantly used they help achieve contrasting themes between the different sections in the songs. There are times where the music content has a great sense of conflict between the utter carnal nature of the lyrics and the transcendent nature of the melodic sections.  Indeed there is also such a disparity between the more vile, decomposed sounding Black Metal sections (influenced by the First Wave Black Metal). These contrasts are what adds a sense of magic to the music, and fit perfectly in with the occultist themes like conjuring, necromancy, summoning etc (ie. the concepts of overcoming Death)

This is almost a contradiction, but the album often exudes a sense of joyousness, not so much musically, as there is barely a major key note to be heard, but more in the sense that there is an intuitive feeling that the band, like all good Black Metal acts, really embrace the darkness rather than fear it, revelling in its possibilities and dark magic.