Tomhet - Nostalgia Blooming

A little while ago I reviewed the tape version of Caliginous and it blew me away.  I'm back now to review the second Tomhet tape release from Glorious North Productions, Nostalgia Blooming. Nostalgia Blooming is made up of one track, split into four movements - I: Nostalgia Blooming, II: Isolation, It Rains, III: Under A Fading Moon and IV: It Sounds Like Memories. The song was recorded between July and September 2012 but wasn't committed to tape until late 2013. The tape was limited to 66 copies.

Tracklist:-

1. Nostalgia Blooming - I: Nostalgia Blooming
                                        II: Isolation, It Rain
                                        III: Under A Fading Moon
                                        IV: It Sounds Like Memories

Nostalgia Blooming has a very different atmosphere to that of Caliginous. The first act starts with a prolonged passage of clean guitar with slowly building ambience in the background. This opening act remains instrumental and instead of their being an obvious transition between the different parts, they all flow into one another to create one continuous piece. Had it been split into parts, it wouldn’t have worked as well. Where Caliginous showed off Xaphan’s black metal side, Nostalgia Blooming airs more toward his ambient influences. There are hints of classical and even medieval music within it, especially in some of notation and phrasing. I like musicians and bands who can highlight the different facets of their song-writing without needing have two or three different projects. Tomhet gathers all of the elements associated with black metal and ambient music and creates varied and interesting releases. 

As Nostalgia Blooming draws to close, the final passage includes tin whistles that lead into some striking white noise, layered with brooding melody. It’s quite a polar opposite bearing in mind what came before it, but the crossover isn’t wholly unexpected either. It features the electronica-influence that made me love Caliginous so much. This tape shows that there is beauty hidden amongst the ice-cold facade of black metal and when you peel away the dissonance, you are left with some calming and uplifting music. Tomhet is both an outlet for dark, bleak expression as much as it is for wind-swept, cosmic soundscapes. Truly inspirational and affirming. 

Listen to Nostalgia Blooming here - 


You can buy Nostalgia Blooming digitally and on tape from the above page.

If you're in the UK or Europe, you can purchase the tape directly from Glorious North Productions here - http://www.gloriousnorth.co.uk/products-page/specials/tomhet-nostalgia-blooming-2/.

Tomhet Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tomhet
Glorious North Productions Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Glorious-North-Productions