Review: Nachtheem – Waan Van de Leegte
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Review by K
Nachtheem – Waan Van de Leegte
Record Label: Terratur Possessions
Year: 2026
Rating: 7/10
It’s about time we had a bit of mystery. When researching Nachtheem with a view to singing the praises of the band members, it transpires that the band actually consists of no members. No clues, nothing. Just a space underneath the legend ‘Band Members.’Oh well, saves us giving it large at the drummer. If there is one…
Despite being rather economical with their information, it can be deduced from the titles that this is a Dutch Black Metal band, and the anthropomorphised moon adorning the cover suggests there may well be something of a folkish feel. So we’ll take these bits of info as a starting point and go from there…
‘Geen Vuur in Gods Hallen’ kicks the album off in understated but quite charming fashion. The immediate and fairly obvious pointer is aimed directly at Agalloch in their mid to fast-paced days. The breakdown consists of more Agalloch accuracy, complete with mellow acoustic moments blended into the not very raucous rhythm guitars, and clean singing laments. The drums clatter along at various paces with well-placed fills. A nice if unspectacular opening.
‘Verdoemd Door de Tijd’ follows up slowly, seemingly a little out of breath. The guitars plod along with the drums in a repetitive (but not unpleasantly so) intro, and then just when one is about to give up hope, the track awakens. Again, this is a mid-paced, fairly mellow slab of pretty and accomplished Metal. The vocals have a distant and echoey feel that call out across the mountains in tuneful and melancholic style. The track has a knack for holding the bass note rock steady whilst designing complex chords around it, and then sending the bass down the neck and bringing the music together to complete the elements and bring a kind of satisfied closure. Groovy.
‘Het Duister Verdeeld’ moves away from the Agalloch feels that have permeated the opening shots of the album and immediately hits us with a more aggressive and nastier atmosphere. This is more akin to Bergtatt by Ulver, with long repetitive slow passages and all the other ingredients of ye olde BM of yore. The clean vocals have a haunting quality that is both effective and nicely produced. This track lives deep in the woods. The second half complements the first with rapid-fire rhythms and bleak synth atmospheres. Certainly the winner so far.
The obligatory folky-acoustic flavoured “HaaaawHaaaawwwHeeeeee” mid-track (De Ontwaking) offers competent atmospherics and a chance to nip to the kitchen to get the kettle on. Looks as though the synth has been left on the trumpet setting too.
Back in the room, the title (and final) track kicks off in similar fashion to the opening track, all Agalloch-themed melancholy, mid-paced riffing, well-placed and well thought out chord changes. What the album lacks in spark it makes up for in accuracy and thoughtfulness. But it’s a big old beast, weighing in at 10.45 on the clock, so there’s time yet for an unexpected twist….
Which does sort of happen around the 8.30 mark. I’m not telling you what it is, but it’s definitely there.
So let’s look at the evidence. Five reasonably lengthy tracks of well-produced, well-played Folky Black Metal. The surprises are few and far between and the music is somewhat derivative of certain American and Norwegian bands of old. But this isn’t really to the album’s detriment in any catastrophic fashion. The tracks blend nicely to bring about a really quite lovely album that deserves its place in most collections. How often you’ll pull it out and stick it on after a couple of listens is open to debate, but Nachtheem have here created an album worth listening to. At least twice.
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