It occurs that man does not really have to come from Finland to create an original doom metal. What is more, interesting bands can be found just right in front of you – in Poland. Such band is undoubtedly NIGHTLY GALE (descending from Silesia area). Their first album under the title “And the Jesus Wept” constitutes a 60-minutes of innovative sounds and offbeat compositions. The band was typecast as black/doom. It however does not reflect properly the content of the record because practically the only element that connects the music performed by the NIGHTLY GALE with these subgenre is the squeaking black scream. It is not the only appearing vocal. It is completed with the pure mans’ singing and declamation that are sometimes electronically deformed. An additional trend in their artistic creation that is electronic must be mentioned here.

The record is full of the key sounds and samples. These of you however who expect some revolution in this case are mistaken. The key sounds are diversificated (from classic “piano” to strange cosmic sounds), they change every moment, crate strange background, build an atmosphere. Guitars constitute the next masterpiece. One time it is a mash, the other one a great combination of playing. Sometimes, out of a sudden short tappings appear that intensify the craziness. As it was with the key sounds there is no option to be bored with the guitars. They change like in kaleidoscopic fashion. Laborious riffs and motives that brings your mint on the verge of madness transform to the romantic, even moving guitar plunges. Of course this changes of the mood is followed by the key sounds which adjust just perfectly.

Speaking of the instruments, saxophone needs to be mentioned. It adds a little avant-garde and decadence to the music. Drum is also an interesting thing. It’s sound is created by computer which is very difficult to detect (if not for the fact that I had read it on the cover I would not have guessed). Looking on the list of compositions it is easy to see that they are long (10 minutes and longer). They are also sophisticated and developed. NIGHTLY GALE constitutes a good example of how to make vast, well developed doom metal compositions without any acceleration tricks. The best example of it is “In Despair of Solitude” – in my opinion the best composition (ah, what a finale!).

“And Jesus Wept” is an original record which shows great imagination of the band members. Key sounds, electronics, guitars and vocal are used in an interesting way which enables you to be astonished by the record and to discover something new time after time. This typical avant-garde creates however a small chaos and may make a listener feel a little uncertain and confused at the beginning. That is why it is worth to play the record a couple of times and not to reject it after first superficial contact.

Written by [Dod] and originally published on atmospheric 'zine