Premiere: Iron Triumph/Nachtheir Split
3/11/22 | J. Proust
Stalwart readers of The Call are rewarded this evening with an exclusive premiere of a new split between two of the most potent and formidable new artists in the U.S. underground. It’s swords against sorcery tonight with this premiere of the new split between Texas’ mail-clad dark rider Iron Triumph and the mysterious Nachtheir, grim wielder of novel and noxious black metal spells. Like an RPG played out across black tape, each warrior, the grizzled knight and the nocturnal prince alike, takes their turns casting their vicious hits.
“The Siege of Castle Moonblade,” a brawny and battle-ready Bathorian epic from Pallisade of Iron Triumph occupies Side A of the split. The journey begins as if in media res, the acoustic guitar that’s so deliciously reminiscent of Solstice (UK) is already well into its song by the time Iron Triumph’s story comes riding in. Holding it together for nearly 15 minutes straight is no mean feat, despite how frequently it’s done in this genre, but Iron Triumph brutally conquers in their ability not only to maintain the listener’s puny attention span, but to bring it to its knee, tolerating nothing resembling dissatisfaction over either its length nor its brevity. True, there are movements within the siege, but the piece feels resolutely composite and entirely whole. All the while, the smoky and battle-scarred cry of the lone Texan behind Iron Triumph brays like a synchronized murder of crows, delighting over the coming spoils from the raging fight below. And like a diehard who goes down swinging, “The Siege Castle Moonblade” ends on a clamorous and powerful note as death’s breath suspires in tandem.
If Iron Triumph’s side was the nighttime confrontation, Nachtheir’s side would be the phantasmagoric, timeless specter that haunts those lifeless, corpse-ridden grounds thereafter. The ethereal aggression of “The Cold Steel of My Sword,” Nachtheir’s opening number, seems more a paean to those wretched knights’ shades caught forever in meaningless war than a blood-fueled banger like his splitmate just kicked up. Rather Nachtheir’s spirit dwells upon a boundless plain where there are no barriers and all things are possible as all things are maliciously enchanted by this crepuscular scion’s touch. The first track is as jaw-dropping as vomiting an obsidian homunculus, but “By the Embittered Moon’s Light,” Nachtheir’s second and final contribution to this split, is a whole world unto itself. A cloudy world. Haunted by storms and restless phantoms.
Out soon on pro-tape from UK citadel Forbidden Keep Records, the split between Iron Triumph and Nachtheir is a split not only for the year end lists, but for the ages.
