Debiutancka płyta szwedzkiego trio złożonego z muzyków BERGRAVEN, NOMINON, IN AETERNUM, CORPUS CHRISTII, FUNERAL MIST. Pionierski blackujący death/doom metal głęboko inspirowany przez BETHLEHEM, KATATONIA, CELTIC FROST, CANDLEMASS, CATHEDRAL, REVEREND BIZARRE, NOOTHGRUSH, ASUNDER, MY DYING BRIDE, ANATHEMA! Płyta dodatkowo zawiera miażdżący cover DARKTHRONE "Over Fjell og Gjennom Torner"!
Recenzja z Lords of Metal:
Everything went pretty fast for the Swedish doom trio Nex. They came together early 2007, entered the Necromorbus Studio (Sweden) and soon came out with ‘Zero’, an album originated from ultimate chaos and confusion. We should not interpret this as a negative fact; it just happens to be the mood they want to invoke with these six, preponderantly extended tracks. The three musicians of Nex are no debutants, they were or are active in illustrious bands like Funeral Mist, Watain, Ofermod, Suffer, Nominon, In Aeternum and Bergraven. These bands mostly produce death and/or black metal, but Nex goes for doom metal inspired by early My Dying Bride, Anathema, Katatonia and Candlemass.
This sounds very promising and with an open mind I go to meet a few spins. Comfortably sunk into an easy chair I let the cadence of guitars take hold of me. Unfortunately there happens too few to speak of a revelation. Guitars are very My Dying Bride alike indeed, and vocals are truly dark, more elocutionary than real singing. Or no, desperate is a better description, since the lamented voice of guitarist Tore Stjerna adds a lot to the jetty hopelessness they want to catch in their long epics. Nex is good in creating a proper atmosphere, but I would have preferred to hear some more soloing through the songs. Then the songs would have been less monotonous. Now it is striking that riffs are just repeated, many times. The spoken fragment in ‘Loss To Come’ (guest vocals by TotalScorn by Zavorah) and the acceleration in ‘Rejection’s Glory’ are welcome variations.
Lyrics are loosely based upon works of Swedish poets, except for ‘Over Fjell Og Gjennom Torner’ of course, because it is a Darkthrone cover which suits the entire album pretty well. My favourite song is ‘Veiled Perfection’. This is a captivating piece of doom, a gem of ten minutes in which the nearly bestial despair in vocals made my flesh creep. I hope that the band focuses on a song like this when writing their second album. ‘Exit’ comes softly rolling towards us and glides into slow guitar notes. It is a beautiful instrumental epilogue of a meritorious debut album, yet it does not seize me by the throat. With doom metal I expect at least a gizzard (in the same throat).