Like their better known Swedish namesakes,
Naglfar, Germany's
Nagelfar found inspiration for their misanthropic black metal mayhem in the mythological ship of death of Norse legend, which was described as being built entirely from the finger and toenails of the dead -- wowza! The story goes that Naglfar (the ship, not the bands!), will be loosed by a giant flood during the end times of Ragnarök and sail along with a host of demons and evil giants to wage final battle against the gods, after which a new world will rise from the sea.
Virus West could very well provide its soundtrack, since, with the exception of the uncharacteristic "Westwall" (a short interlude composed of synthesized fanfares), its songs tend to exceed ten minutes in length and traverse a wide range of progressive black metal styles -- all suitable backdrops for the end of this, or any other world. Now, since everyone and their mother can pull off a decent black metal barrage of blastbeat-driven hyperactivity (see this album's lone example, "Faden Des Schicksals"),
Nagelfar wisely show off their considerable compositional talents with protracted, vari-tempoed tracks such as "Hetzjagd in Palastina," "Hellebarn" (barn from hell?) and the particularly stunning "Protokoll Einer Folter." Along with the album's final colossus, "Meuterei," these feature different combinations of stately riffs, soaring harmonies, quiet acoustic guitars, somber keyboard passages, and even discreet, atmospheric sound effects to conjure up evocative sonic scenarios, out of which additional bursts of blackened thrashing can explode with frequently awe-inspiring results. Sadly, considering its challenging but quite satisfying contents,
Virus West would prove to be
Nagelfar's (the band, not the ship!) personal Ragnarök, as they inexplicably broke up shortly after its release. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia