Slowmotion Downhells

The fourth album from Polish project Nekyia finds them producing ritualistic dark ambient in the vein of Coph Nia, Funerary Call, Atrium Carceri or Ain Soph. What distinguishes Nekyia from these acts is that the music of Slowmotion Downhells features actual lyrics (in English) and singing, mostly in a world-weary monotone similar to that of Trent Reznor or Niko Skorpio. I’m not convinced that this adds much to the album – I’d rather have enjoyed it as a purely instrumental dark ambient suite. And lengthy surreal song titles like ‘The Great Half-Dead Cat Persecution In A Domain Of The Uncertainty’ are more distracting than enlightening. The music is strongly keyboard-based, although ‘Waters Of The Elysian Fields Are Strongly Caustic’ features muted drums and acoustic guitar. The clear, spacious production creates an effective soundstage on which the deep sonic rumblings of the album are presented. Slowmotion Downhells comes nicely done up in a parchment envelope with various inserts. The 100-copy deluxe limited edition of the album also comes with two reproduction ancient Greek obulus coins – the required fare to get the ferryman Charon to transport you across the River Styx to Hades, which might come in handy if you happen to drop dead while listening to Slowmotion Downhells.