Venturer - Nocturnal

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Venturer’s “Nocturnal” explores a chilling world full of timeless terror and never-ending shadows that reach out to draw you into their deadly embrace. Venturer paints imagery with synths and orchestral samples that is gothic in the best sense of the word, evoking roiling evil and all of the terrifying entities waiting for us in the night. The music’s cinematic qualities create a terrifically creepy atmosphere which I find enjoyable and entertaining, like watching a horror movie with all the lights out. This album is a journey into the very heart of a sinister cathedral and the horrors skulking within. 

All of the heaviness and growing fear within “Nocturnal’s” atmosphere helps give it a presence and weight that is undeniably engaging. Venturer skillfully uses interwoven synth sounds and classical music samples to call up a world of ancient menace and paranormality, drawing me into the haunting landscapes and forbidden corridors that  conceal unnamable monstrosities. I find myself wanting to journey ever deeper into the album's world as the music unfolds.

Phantasmic melodies move through “Nocturnal,”, each one freezing moments of danger and shadowy presences, carried on pipe organ and a plethora of synth textures and tones. I am enamoured of the way in which the different melodies create impressions ranging from painful tragedy to ravening madness, pulling me into the core of the music. Wrenching fear and unrelenting power spill out from some of the melodies and others are like a lost lullaby drifting down empty halls like a roving spirit.

Another important contributor to the horror-filled mood of “Nocturnal” is the low end’s components. Drums batter, bass roars and fragmented sounds rip at the fabric of the tracks as the album evolves. All of that crushing strength and rushing power delivers an additional shot of doom-laden menace that deepens the overall feelings exuded by the music. Along with all of the classically influenced melodies, I find the balance satisfying and engaging. 

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Cathedralis Nocturna” emerges with a clap of thunder before a spectral choir chants with foreboding flowing from their unhallowed voices, hovering formlessly above seething shadows that reach out. Thunder cracks as the dramatic chords rise around it, orchestral and full of intense drama, evoking a crumbling castle perched on a crag. 

The orchestral arpeggios add an element of classical theatricality while tiny chimes in the distance feel threatened and unsettled, as a piercing synth repeats angular patterns. Tension permeates the atmosphere, surging through me as I picture a horrifying threat waiting just out of sight, darker than the night around it. 

Crushing force snarls below as smashing drums tremble heavily, a churning arpeggio adding to the discomfort before the ripping underpinnings move with a harpsichord-like synth before silence falls.

Otherworldly chimes paint images of eldritch forces creeping slowly into the world as “Bloodthirst” fills with lurking threat before the fierce underlayer accelerates with irresistible power and speed. All of the trembling tones vibrate together in an unsettling pulse that shivers before ghostly voices echo above shattered rhythms and the piano circles with nervous fragility. 

Subdivided rhythms move now as the piano drifts with trailing tendrils, full of something broken and hurting, touching me as it also fills me with portentous emotion. Sawtoothed sounds slash while the piano shifts like a restless spirit before the foundation shudders again. The beat’s machine gun rapidity joins spinning arpeggios, ramping up the sense of approaching peril, as bright notes flicker and the track ends on uncoiling tones.

“Fragmented Memories” captures pain and memory with a piano carrying a melody full of otherworldly impressions while soft exhalations create airy delicacy in a filigreed web. The piano surges with passionate expression and strings drift with tendrils of refracted light, touching my heart before the silence falls. This short piece provides a momentary respite from the ever-growing umbra permeating the album.

A pipe organ churns with horrifying power and creeping menace as “The Forsaken One”  comes to being with towering darkness roiling and pouring like an oil slick, imbued with gothic beauty and classical elegance. Drums join with smashing weight as the organ cries out with aching hunger and the bass rips away peace. 

A harp breaks in with a delicate melody, full of haunting sadness, drifting into the open space once occupied by the claw-like shredding of the bass. Now the doom-laden organ howls as razor sharp foundational pulses tear with unstoppable rage, evoking in me fear and the anticipation of worse to come. An arpeggio which drifts like a lost spirit moves on the harp above the colossal weight that rolls below, calling to mind a storm building on the horizon. 

A synth which glows with a phosphorescent sheen, moves above the unbelievable force below while the pipe organ shivers with growing stress. A collision of anger and tenderness flows out while emptiness permeates the music. Static crackles and the organ sobs with burning pain before the track comes to a close.

Stentorian tones, like voices of the grave, echo in a chiaroscuro swirl as “Midnight Visitor” flows outward with a sudden burst of heavy weight that rushes in a pulse joined by a kick drum racing like a heart fluttering in fear. The hammering weight is joined by grinding notes that drive like a stake into the chest, breaking into an unsteady line. A pipe organ skirls with vile hunger, while the serrated tones around it rip open the music. 

An arpeggio speeds uncomfortably, making me want to look behind me, while the forceful low end breaks against it. All of the spiky sounds are balanced by the pipe organ which carries a ghastly melody while the beat punches with rib-breaking force. Tumbling tones create a creeping horror which pours in the distance while sonic razor blades lacerate. A slower segment, full of a kind of drained tranquility, moves above the grating below it before the track ends on a mournful piano line. 

“Crimson Moon” reveals itself with a Baroque-influenced melody, filling me with apprehension and nervous anticipation as luminosity spills out in melodic tones that carry  an approaching threat.

Sharp edges contrast with the crystal luminescence pouring out above the reverberant percussion, which confers forward motion on the intertwining melody. Ever-present danger swells as a gruff guitar carries a nervously churning pattern, capturing the deadly force waiting in the blood-red light of the moon.

Percussive elements add clean motion before a reverent choir chants with uncomfortable darkness and the resonant tones echo with immemorial fear as the drums return. Static crackles like claws raking through the wall of shimmering notes as the melody seizes me with shadowy portent, speaking of indescribable danger waiting in the crimson glow. As the worshipful choir cries out, waves of synth ripple before the track stops.

Like a floating orb “Black Magic” slips into existence before the loping beat moves with deliberate power, cadaverous tones drifting past like spirits while the cymbals flash, moving the melancholy track forward. Splintered sounds intertwine like fog while the steady underlayer pushes all of the musical elements forward. 

The shattered notes are both hypnotic and tinged with tragedy before wind sweeps with a pipe organ calling in the voice of the shades while rippling arpeggios growl at the rhythm swings in a smooth undulation. Tones like broken glass snarl in a gliding pattern and the percussion adds shape. Orchestral notes sob with feeling as the smooth drums float in an even layer as a synth spins and ominous heaviness fills the background.

“Daybreak” starts with piano chords moving between pain, terror and resolution as they flow out into open space. The piano has a minor key delicacy, ringing to create discomfort before the smooth left hand adds guidance while a ragged tendril of synthesizer joins barely corporeal notes that hover from beyond the grave, as a foundational pulse creates subtle heaviness.  

A fragile fog of notes is joined by reverberating drums. The piano moves with grace and pain, weaving a tapestry of emotion as the drum beats vibrate below and bass surges. A choir adds an unholy feeling while the thundering underlayer is joined by wriggling, minor key tones that move like strange, snake-like creatures while the orchestral strings create wistful emotion while the pipe organ howls with unsettling feelings.  

Drums shatter against the other elements in uncertain motion as the wildly leaping tones climb upward. A dangerously weighty low end punches forward while the higher notes create a flowing contrast, engaging me with a balancing effect. Guttural sounds tear at the music before the pipe organ carries a complex melody, full of nobility and primeval power while refulgent synth glimmers. 

Drums and shredding bass ram forward as high notes carry mournfully, mixed with continual nervousness. All of the rushing weight below is joined by an electric guitar that screams with hurt and worry, flying out in a mad churn. The underpinnings slash with gruff muscle before the track ends.

Conclusion

“Nocturnal” is an adventure through a realm inhabited by primordial entities waiting to devour humanity in a rush of bloodthirsty ferocity. The way in which Venturer creates a gripping atmosphere allows me to sink into the musical exploration and be carried along.