‘Time sleeps inside of me, Sunken, Silent, Abandoned in sorrow, Emerging thoughts narrowed, Far away from myself’ (Unter Tage [Regress])

No Sun Rises deal in blackened hardcore and Harmisod represents their third release following 2021 EP Dominium Terrae and their 2019 debut full length Ascent/Decay.  It sees the Göttingen based band give greater rein to their black metal instincts, while continuing to draw on an avowedly hardcore propulsion.  Four tracks across a forty-five minutes run time speaks to the ambition on display and impressively the momentum never dims as an atmosphere of wintry darkness is expertly conjured.

Bleakly cold guitars that brim with sombre flourishes entwine with a powerful yet nuanced rhythm section, while underpinning rabidly harsh German language vocals that weave a darkly allusive lyrical imagery of fog and forest, dark and light.  Opener Nebelleben (Fog Life), which includes a spoken word reading of Hermann Hesse’s poem Im Nebel (In The Fog), and the third track, Tanz Im Fahlen Lichte (Dancing In The Pale Light) are powerfully executed explorations of mournfully atmospheric blackened hardcore.

But, perhaps, the two stand out tracks are where the band meld their searing black metal with explorations in dark folk.  The first half of track two, Unter Tage (Underground) [Regress], opens with a beautifully haunting vocal guest appearance from Nicole of Berlin’s Luminescent, which interplays with acoustic guitar and violins as it builds to a spine tingling crescendo (‘No one responsible, Although in charge’) that then erupts into a ferocious second half.  Album closer, In Trockener Erde (In Dry Soil) [Bury Me], builds from a darkly infectious, almost menacingly jaunty folk opening, courtesy of Dutch duo Tüül, before segueing into a blackened onslaught that reworks the same eerie melody to dramatic effect.