Negative Plane are certainly not a new band. Having released their prior full length 5 years ago the band seemed to have disappeared for quite some time. Many times when this happens bands tend to forget their original purpose or just forget music altogether. Thankfully for us, the music consuming public, the band have returned to become something stronger.
The black scene itself has seen much more attention over the past few years. Whether this can be attributed to heightened media awareness of it in books (Lords Of Chaos, True Norwegian Black Metal) and movies (Until The Light Takes Us), or just more bands in general. Even some of this could be attributed by bands standing outside the guidelines (looking directly at Liturgy) whether the band is good or bad. Regardless of all of these factors Negative Plane find a way to stand above their peers while keeping one foot firmly in the first wave of black metal.
Having a mixture of both classic Hellhammer and the intelligent use of orchestration, that bands like Dimmu Borgir have long since failed to understand, NP manage to use both restraint and a love of extremes to their advantage. When the calming yet foreboding twanging clean guitar pieces ring out signaling the beginning to "Angels Of Veiled Bone," one can feel the cold air blowing against their bones. One can only assume that this is something truly planned out by the band. Little tricks like this make the band not only stick out from their peers but also make the devastating classicism of their first wave-styled parts not only more convincing, but that much more disturbing as well.
The recording itself is just clear enough. While maintaining the "Kvlt" sounds of the past the band chose not to rely solely on the hopes that this recording choice alone would suffice. The band instead loses a piece of that danger involved in going completely lo-fi and creates a compelling mix of clarity and kvlt. While this might not make sense entirely, the recording is high enough quality that it isn't all crashing cymbals and low-tone vocals bleeding into the mix. The band use the little bit of clarity to make the songs that much tougher.
Where do Negative Plane stand in the current morass of black metal? Who knows what the "scene" may think of them but I do have good news otherwise. The band have found the right dynamics to sound intelligent and simultaneously brutal. This trick rarely seems to work in black metal and, thus, helps the band truly stick out. Most of their "peers" that fancy themselves artistic (Liturgy) have no sense of the past, let alone the dynamics necessary to create a full album that can immerse the listener from start to finish. Negative Plane have skirted this issue by writing good songs that are played in a smart way.
