The thing with black metal and all of its different substyles is how differently each of them can sound while still undoubtedly being black metal to the very core, and that’s something that can really help someone like me get into some seemingly less savory styles like depressive black metal. I love emotion going into my music if it’s done well, and a depressive nature rarely works well for me but black metal makes it worth somehow, and it’s because of acts like Negativa that the style can still remain alive and incredibly strong.

It’s always good to know that any sort of music I’m listening to is being played with emotion. Be it sadness, rage, or happiness, music is a true vessel for emotional works that usually enhance the listening experience and bring the material to a new level that would’ve been lacking without that inflection. Black metal tends to be more anger-based more times than not like much of metal, but clearly the style of depressive black metal breaks that mold and I’ve come across plenty of solid acts from that little corner of black metal in recent years but it’s Negativa that has given me the best material through “03”. With six tracks of sheer self-destruction and inward devastation, Negativa manage to make a truly massive album that does not destroy everything in its path like many other black metal records, but instead goes for the destruction of the I as “03” is constantly berating the very soul of Negativa through mid-paced, icy instrumentation that leave no room for hope and a set of vocals that’s the very thoughts of suicide. It all comes together to create a disturbingly moving record that is both intoxicating and self-inflicting that manage to chip away at the spirit bit by bit. By the end, Negativa has torn away at all happiness and good spirit left within your husk of a body, and it was done through no less than top fashion as “03” is easily the most engaging, entertaining, and exemplary piece of DSBM that I’ve seen in literally years from top to bottom without a single sign of flaw.

It’s not very often that an album that specifically crafted to blacken your very soul for the sole purpose of self-destruction strikes me so well as what I got with Negativa in top fashion, and I’m really impressed at it to be honest. “03” is a truly introvertive record that appeals to everyone’s self-doubt and self-hatred in the most active way possible with an approach of black metal that makes it mortally intoxicating come the very end of both the album and your will to live.

LISTEN to “03” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Negativa on Facebook here.