Review written by Glenn Van Bockstaele.

Nature Morte is a Paris-based black metal band formed in 2015 and “NM1” is their debut 4-track long EP, released through Italian record label Argonauta Records and sent to us by All Noir PR, Booking and Management. The album opens up with “Through The Perfection Of Your Nothing,” a song inspired by classic black metal but mixed up with a lot of post metal elements. As the moody post melodies fill your eardrums you can hear vocalist Chris shrieking in the background and drummer Vincent doing a typically black metal blast beat barrage towards the end. A very enjoyable opener and with its 7-minute playtime, this is the “shortest” song on the release.

Up next is “Till Love Do Us Part,” a track with a slow, relaxing start before entering another shriek and blast beat session. Eventually the post metal riffs and black metal drums come together for a sweet combo before the song cools down again to a section where meditative melodies play in the foreground while Chris keeps on screaming in the background (another sweet contrast). It’s a good track, but too long for my tastes. Then comes “Grief,” the EP’s third track, and like the previous song, this is another slow burner. In fact, it’s the most post-metal oriented tune on the album and this song in particular emphasizes the main issue I have with this EP.

Nature Morte has many good things going for them (they make an excellent blend of black metal and hardcore with post metal and shoegaze) but their current material doesn’t manage to keep me engaged all the way through the EP’s 30-minute runtime. This and all the other tracks on the EP maintain much of the same vibe and style and it gets a bit repetitive overtime. The EP’s final track, “Black Pram,” and similarly to “Till Love Do Us Part,” this song begins with a peaceful melody before the classic black metal tunes kick in and finally once again combining all the aforementioned post black hardcore shoegaze stuff as the track and EP reaches it end. Despite the EP’s overly extended tracks, I did enjoy the experimental nature of this band. Nature Morte is a fun act to check out if you dig black metal, post metal or shoegaze. Be sure to check out the EP’s opening track here below!

70/100