{"id":623517,"date":"2026-09-13T15:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T15:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/623517\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T15:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T15:18:09","slug":"nihil-admiral-the-axes-the-flesh-hooks-and-the-spits-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/623517\/","title":{"rendered":"Nihil Admiral – The Axes, the Flesh Hooks and the Spits Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Veiled in mystique, Nihil Admiral proves elusive as details about them dance outside my reach. Lacking a traditional landing page on socials or the Archives, I\u2019m forced to draw conclusions and inferences without the comfort of cross-reference materials I usually take for granted. I\u2019m not flying completely blind, though, as Nihil Admiral\u2019s promo materials mention that this Trondheim, Norway troupe features members from Misotheist<\/a>, Corroder, Goat the Head, and others. While no specific band members are mentioned in the press kit, the Bandcamp page for single \u201cLife\u2019s Lower Phase\u201d offers a few names, though it\u2019s unclear whether they\u2019re all full-time members of Nihil Admiral\u2019s debut. Regardless, involvement doesn\u2019t necessarily beget quality, so let\u2019s dive in and test how sharp The Axes, the Flesh Hooks and the Spits really are. <\/p>\n

From the gritty production to the grainy, snowbound album art, The Axes could only be raw black metal. And as you might expect from a name like Nihil Admiral, the atmosphere is rife with lawlessness and wiolence. Given the raw aesthetic the band perpetuates, Nihil Admiral recalls early Darkthrone and Satyricon seen through the lens of Paysage d\u2019Hiver. Misotheist supplies another suitable reference point, as The Axes\u2019 furiously driving compositions remind me of the most aggressive moments in Misotheist\u2019s discography, even if Nihil Admiral\u2019s song lengths better map to crossover thrash. Given the high regard these inspirations engender, it should be no surprise that from moment to moment Nihil Admiral delivers wonderfully wicked black metal.<\/p>\n

\ufeffLife`s Lower Phase by Nihil Admiral<\/a><\/p>\n

Rime-ridden, icy fury whips at each track on The Axes, defining the black metal onslaught permeating Nihil Admiral\u2019s debut. Rabid tremolos fill scant runtimes along with manic blast beats and coarse, deathly roars (\u201cThe Axes, the Flesh Hooks, and the Spits\u201d), which submit a welcome contrast against the requisite blackened rasps. Nearly every track launches its assault with frenzied riffs and an ugly barrage of snare \u2018n\u2019 kick abuse, and Nihil Admiral does it convincingly. \u201cStare\u201d begins with a thrashy lick guaranteed to get heads banging while a scorching guitar gallops past with Hellripper<\/a>ing speed and riffcraft. Conversely, penultimate track \u201cSouthern Cross\u201d enters with a slower, synth-forward build before loosing the tempestuous fury Nihil Admiral commands so well. Over eight lean tracks, The Axes, the Flesh Hooks and the Spits slash and skewer with keen edges.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

However, despite the murderous precision of Nihil Admiral\u2019s instruments, The Axes leaves more impression than impact. The band sounds properly pissed off, but I struggle to remember any of The Axes\u2019 songs besides the back half of \u201cThe Eye of Logic,\u201d and that\u2019s only because of its similarity to Ramin Djawadi\u2019s Game of Thrones title sequence. Otherwise, The Axes, the Flesh Hooks and the Spits\u2019 meager runtime passes by in a scathing yet fleeting flurry. And speaking of the runtime, Nihil Admiral\u2019s twenty-five minutes aren\u2019t enough to satisfy. I usually applaud a less-is-moar approach, but given that The Axes doesn\u2019t do enough to develop their arrangements, such a concise runtime suggests a lack of ideas that would have been better off marinating rather than serving half-baked. Closing track \u201cIts Own Beyond\u201d provides an apt example, where horns subtlety support guitar trems as they blur into an exciting mixture before the song just\u2026 ends. Potential abounds, and refining the songwriting to intentionally mold tension would have gone a long way towards delivering a more effective conclusion to The Axes, and applied across the album would have manifested a better experience altogether.<\/p>\n

Though I\u2019m left disappointed by Nihil Admiral\u2019s debut, I\u2019m excited by their potential. Captivating second-wave worship lives here, with glimmers of originality shimmering through the cracks. Unfortunately, the album is held back by an abrupt duration that doesn\u2019t allow tracks to mature into their best possible forms. The Axes, the Flesh Hooks and the Spits doesn\u2019t shy away from remorseless music subscribed to nihilism, but neither do these deadly implements hook me with their blackened burs. Even though The Axes miss their mark, with more deliberate songwriting I\u2019m confident that next time Nihil Admiral wrests the reins of chaos, they can seize listeners with an experience worthy of their rank.<\/p>\n

Rating: Disappointing
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Rekviem<\/a>
Websites: Bandcamp<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: August 14th, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Veiled in mystique, Nihil Admiral proves elusive as details about them dance outside my reach. Lacking a traditional…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[19938,23197,248812,28492,264826,139448,93,6755,264827,264828,61,60,264829,278,264830,90984,138552,264831,264832,264833,563,564,87865,264834],"class_list":["post-623517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-2-0","tag-23197","tag-aug26","tag-black-metal","tag-corroder","tag-darkthrone","tag-entertainment","tag-game-of-thrones","tag-goat-the-head","tag-hellripper","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-misotheist","tag-music","tag-nihil-admiral","tag-norwegian-metal","tag-paysage-dhiver","tag-ramin-djawadi","tag-raw-black-metal","tag-rekviem","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-satyricon","tag-the-axes-the-flesh-hooks-and-the-spits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}