Nox
Ixaxaar

July 2007
Released: 2007, Wicked World
Rating: 3.0/5
Reviewer: J. Campbell

"The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how much I play, I'll never be as good as a wall. I played a wall once. They're relentless."



The late Mitch Hedberg never got a chance to hear the debut full-length from Nox, but I have a feeling that he’d describe it similarly. IXAXAAR is fucking relentless.



The Nox brand of death metal is insanely blast-heavy, and extremely pissed off. And when I say pissed, I mean PISSED. This is the kind of sinister DM that makes you jut out your chin, furrow your brow, and just fucking scowl at anyone and anything. Akin to a hyper-violent Immolation in their best moments, this band is a chaotic, jet-fueled steamroller that invokes unadulterated hatred. Did I mention they spew that hatred out fast?



Unfortunately, the nearly-grindcore level of speed that permeates this ugly tome actually drags the experience down a bit. Pummel, pummel, pummel, blast, blast, blast, kill, crush, destroy: This is the story of IXAXAAR. Which is all fine and good, except this album simply isn’t dynamic enough to keep itself fresh throughout. In fact, when this album finally ends, it’s actually it’s kind of relieving. Each note they play goes straight for the jugular, and avoiding stabs to the throat is an exhausting exercise. Placing a mid-tempo cruncher middle of the tracklist would’ve provided some needed respite for the long haul, but when Nox slows their riffage down to a jog, it’s just for seconds at a time. A whole song? Forget about it.





With all the wankery and posturing that permeates the death metal underground’s outer crust, it’s cool to see Wicked World standing behind a seething gang of Chorozonic bastards like Nox. If the band would ease up on the Napalm Death pills and let these ultra-evil compositions of theirs hang a little looser, we’d have some world class shit on our hands here. Until then…



“I played in a death-metal band. People either loved us or hated us. Or they thought we were OK.”

Nox
Ixaxaar

July 2007
Released: 2007, Wicked World / Earache Records
Rating: 3.0/5
Reviewer: Heliogabalus

Nox are one of those hokey death metal acts screaming things like “Hail Satan” and “Holy Spirit I Cast Thee Out” all the while naming their songs complete gibberish (in 2007). They play early 90’s (Florida) style death metal in the vein of Deicide, Monstrosity, Malevolent Creation, Thanatos, and Krisiun.



For those of you who think it’s important to own every release by Grave and/or are really into Bloodbath, Fleshcrawl, and the new Cannibal Corpse – Here is your review:

The New album from Nox is a wicked evil death metal release that is sure to please anyone who likes it fast, heavy, and anti-jesus. 10 Horns…Slay the Christ…UP THE IRONS…Eat the Pope (etc.)



That being said, IXAXAAR totally sucks. It has nothing to do with musicianship, the riffing, the vocals, or the orchestration, it’s just that this album has been released so many times it’s getting tedious. When I want to listen to black metal I don’t listen to fucking Horn of Valere…I listen to Darkthrone. When I want to watch Eraserhead I don’t watch fucking Pi…I watch Eraserhead. Give me the master over the imitator any day of the week.



Nox did not release an unforgivable album. This is perfectly serviceable death metal, and I do understand that some bands need to play in the traditional vein (To keep the flag waving so to speak). However, that does not excuse the mediocrity of IXAXAAR. Nox can’t just take from the past…they need to make it their own. They can accomplish this in two ways – 1. They can incorporate a new idea into an old genre [Sunn O))) expanding on what Earth did] 2. They can execute the whole Florida death metal thing so well that it won’t fucking matter (see Municipal Waste with crossover). Here’s hoping the next release is more memorable.



(I mean, fuck, I’d much rather listen to Malevolent Creation than Decapitated).



Conclusion: The members of Nox are gifted mimics.