It’s simultaneously easy and incredibly difficult to fall into the wide realm of atmospheric black metal with how voluminous the scene is at any given time no matter what. Easy because of the raw abundance, difficult because it can often feel like many of them sound dreadfully similar. Just to hear a little bit of variety even if it’s swathed in plenty of what we’ve heard before can feel like a wave of fresh air, and that’s a damn-near exact explanation of what I found within the latest from Negative or Nothing.

Now, that makes it sound like this album is just one step beyond a typical run-of-the-mill black metal work that we could find in any section of Bandcamp or YouTube, but I cannot stress enough of untrue that is of what Negative or Nothing has done here. In every essence, “Drowned” is much more than nothing as this duo takes a tastefully raw approach to ethereal-tinged atmospheric black metal that is far more rewarding than you might expect from hearing likely any other act of the same style as these six tracks just hit all the right notes in a different sense to where I could not help but fall right into this album. There’s a thick coat that can be identified as anything from immense nihilism, escapist desires through the darkness, or a catering to the atmospheric black metal crowd, but whatever it is has been done so well throughout the entirety of “Drowned” that it permeates the very soul of the record, and it’s no less than irresistible. Negative or Nothing really dug their heels in for this release to incorporate everything that they could bring to the table in order to craft an experience that’s not just compelling right from the beginning, but immensely satisfying as it becomes clear from one track to the next that “Drowned” is executed with fantastic precision coupled with a real passion for the style that bleeds through every second of what’s to be had for anyone who makes the wise decision to fall into this offering.

It’s plenty of what we’ve heard before from this style, but it’s performed in a manner that cannot be considered anything other than devilishly tasteful for anyone who wants to hear something even a little different out of this massive scene, and it’d be a shame to think that Negative or Nothing has done any less than fully deliver. To drown yourself in “Drowned” is the only proper way to get a proper feel for everything that’s put forth on this record, and I can almost guarantee that any connoisseur of the ever-expanding black metal realm will find plenty to enjoy within these six songs.

LISTEN to “Drowned” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Negative or Nothing on Facebook here.