Nightfell are a Portland metal duo that bring together key players in the city's metal and hardcore scenes. Drummer and vocalist Tim Call runs the Parasitic label and has played in a slew of groups including Aldebaran, the Howling Wind, and Weregoat; guitarist/vocalist Todd Burdette plays in Tragedy and Severed Head of State, and was a former member of influential crust band His Hero Is Gone. Their debut, The Living Ever Mourn, serves as a bridge between their own tastes and influences.
True to their origins, Nightfell alternate between resembling a slowed-down version of Tragedy or a sped-up take on Aldebaran; they're also heavily influenced by Call's love of funeral doom, namely groups like Skepticism and Mournful Congregation (who Call has also played live with). Funeral doom is as depressing as it sounds; motion is halted in favor of creating a overwhelmingly glum atmosphere. Mourn's two interludes—an oddly syrupy keyboard sequence and a track punctuated by acoustic guitars and drawling vocals—further underline the genre's presence. Still, traces of the melodic crust Burdette popularized with Tragedy and His Hero Is Gone are found in his guitar work for Nightfell, especially in his leads on “I Am Decay”.
“Altars to Wrath” is the most successful union of their personalities; Call delivers some D-beat in the middle of the track, while Burdette unleashes monstrous death metal riffs that Asphyx or Disma would be envious of. Tragedy's last record, 2012's Darker Days Ahead, suffered from a lack of urgency; while Mourn is a slower-sounding record, the tempo change doesn't come across as labored because Call and Burdette's chemistry works, even with music as slow and morose as this.
Their partnership is especially engaging when Burdette lends some clean guitars to “The Hollowing”, producing soothing tones while Call wails away on the drums. It creates a fruitful tension, as there isn't much room to breathe throughout Mourn. When a pick-slide comes in and a crusty charge dominates the final seconds of the song, the intrusion doesn't feel jagged. Similarly, on “Dirge”, Burdette's clean playing fights with Call's militaristic snare. For less experienced players, such experiments could come across as clunky; for them, it sounds natural.
After getting a digital and cassette release earlier in the year, The Living Ever Mourn is seeing vinyl via Southern Lord, which makes sense. They started out as a doom-oriented label before getting into black metal, and more recently, the label has shifted towards putting out many crust-influenced hardcore records. With Call and Burdette's combined backgrounds, Mourn shrinks the disconnect in Southern Lord's roots and their present-day activities.
