This is the second album from Naxen, a German black metal band.
Descending into a Deeper Darkness is the follow up to 2020’s Towards the Tomb of Times, and contains 43 minutes of new material that’s spread out over four sprawling tracks. Naxen were already a quality band before this, but Descending into a Deeper Darkness sees them raise their standards even higher.
Descending into a Deeper Darkness combines a few different blackened elements, drawing inspiration from the Norwegian second wave for a strong foundation, the atmospheric and depressive styles for depth and texture, and a touch of dark doom for added crushing heaviness. This is then further enriched by mixing together influences from both traditional and modern black metal. The end result is a contemporary blackened journey that has many sights for the weary traveller to marvel at and take cover from. After all, Descending into a Deeper Darkness is not just immersive and richly atmospheric, but also violently aggressive.
These songs have a colossal presence that comes from not only the beefy production, but the vast imposing nature of the music itself. Naxen have crafted songs that have an innate feeling of impressive stature, and have backed this up by adopting production values that do justice to the quality of the music.
Underpinning these songs is an emotive heart that bleeds out over all aspects of the music. Whether expressing itself via serrated riffs, red-raw melodies, ferocious screams, or compelling mood-focused soundscapes, Descending into a Deeper Darkness is driven by harsh feeling.
Naxen’s second record is a triumphant and impressive return. It takes the strengths of their debut album and weaponizes them, fuelling the rise of four immense songs that offer a captivating journey into blackened darkness.
Essential listening.
Wonderbox Metal 