Published: April 15, 2022

This is the debut album from Notturno, an Italian black metal band.

Featuring the vocalist of Eyelessight, Notturno play a mix of depressive and atmospheric black metal that also contains elements of doom. There are three epic-length songs on Obsessions, delivering 37 minutes of material in total.

The music is despondent and forlorn. It effortlessly conjures melancholic soundscapes across the span of the songs. A well-rounded dark atmosphere is created from the start, and is easily maintained and spread throughout the music. With the skilled application of mood-based songwriting by people who know their style well, the songs strike the right balance between the emotive excesses of the depressive style and the immersive slow-build approach of the atmospheric one.

The high-pitched screams are of the depressive school of black metal, full of pain and anguished venom. The singer’s voice drips with tortured passion, and her performance is first rate.

Obsessions is a satisfying and rewarding work. The band craft their art with intimate pain and despairing gloom, and provide the listener with a spread of lost hope and existential darkness to feast upon. If you favour music that’s dark and unforgiving in its tormented, misery-drenched nature, then make sure you experience what Notturno have created.

A recommended listen.