GRIMA - Nightside

If we exclude the names that gravitated around the infamous BlazeBirth Hall (a black metal circle active since the second half of the 90's and indissolubly tied to radical right-wing circles), Russia has never really had a proper scene linked to extreme metal. Over the years, however, this vast territory has still given us some solid acts from the most disparate places, even Siberia. Such is the case of Grima (founded in 2014 by twin brothers Morbius and Vilhelm), a project born among the grey buildings of Krasnoyarsk (a city that sits on the banks of the Yenisei, the icy river that also lends its name to the most celebrated track the duo has ever written).

"Nightside" (the sixth album of their career) not only marks the move from underground label Naturmacht to the far more prominent Napalm Records, but also represents a successful step toward a sound that is, in some ways, more melodic and accessible. To be clear, the band's cold atmospheric black metal roots remain unchanged, but the structure of the songs is now noticeably more varied and dynamic compared to their earliest work.

The three lead singles hit the mark: "Skull Gatherers" is anguished, measured, and closes on the notes of an accordion, reaffirming that folk-tinged residue already appreciated in the past, and not only within Grima's own catalogue (I'd point you toward an overlooked masterpiece of Russian black metal, "Songs Of Death" by Путь aka Pathway, released in 2018). "Flight Of The Silver Storm", on the other hand, is armed with a riff capable of cutting clean through like the Siberian wind, before fading into the silent melancholy of a snow-covered landscape. Finally, with "Beyond The Dark Horizon", the Krasnoyarsk band opts for a heavier approach (the guitar solo is paired with a rockier refrain, vocals included too), broadening their musical horizons with remarkable ease.

The backbone of the record centers on this kind of songwriting, in a winning mix where melodies coalesce with a veiled underlying epic quality ("Impending Death Premonition" or "Curse Of The Void"), leading up to another key moment on the album, "Mist And Fog" (a slow-tempo piece steeped in dark solitude).

If the solid "Will Of The Primordial" (2019) allowed Grima to become better known beyond the usual circle of hardcore devotees, this "Nightside" marks an important turning point in the band's fortunes, and not just because of the label change. Ten compositions that enter the bloodstream like snow crystals, ten testimonies to a musical genre where every forest, even the most remote and inaccessible, has its own spirits watching over it and celebrating it in its depths.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

06/03/2025