{"id":698626,"date":"2026-07-18T16:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T16:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/698626\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T16:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T16:01:10","slug":"review-nostalghia-departure-the-progressive-subway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/698626\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Nostalghia – Departure – The Progressive Subway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published by Vince<\/a> on 2026\/07\/182026\/07\/18<\/p>\n

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Artwork by: Gabriel Ferrier<\/a> (Soir, 1911)<\/p>\n

Style: Avant-Garde Metal, Progressive Metal, Atmospheric Black Metal, Modern Classical (Mixed Vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Sadness, Diablo Swing Orchestra, Thy Catafalque
Country: Mexico
Release date: 3 July 2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not the biggest fan of nostalgia. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I understand the appeal; I get why people are eager to retreat into art that evokes these \u201cbetter times\u201d in our deathspiral of a timeline, but the reality is that said times were hardly the romanticized versions we tend to revisit them as. Even if we weren\u2019t hellbent on springboarding ourselves into an early extinction at the behest of a cannibalistic elite, however, I\u2019ve always been a fan of progression. Forward movement. Take a risk, swing big. Do something new with an old style. Even if I don\u2019t like an artist\u2019s or director\u2019s or whoever\u2019s newest approach, I\u2019ll always appreciate that at least they tried rather than playing it safe.<\/p>\n

So yeah, nostalgia and me don\u2019t really jive like that. But you know what I do jive with? Nostalghia. The one-man black metal project out of Mexico, helmed by Alex Becerra, has never been one to rest on creative laurels. Since 2020, Becerra has used black metal as a fertile bed upon which to sow compositional and musical seeds, including fragrant clusters of classical instrumentation, creeping vines of electronica, and dewy folk. Considering the project\u2019s prolific pace, the quality of Nostalghia\u2019s crops is worth noting: most bands struggle to scratch fourteen albums in their lifespan, let alone good ones, yet Becerra has managed that in a mere six years while maintaining a winsome consistency even as he tweaks his explorations of tragically romantic and melancholic metal. Departure comes off the heels of last year\u2019s Void Ecstasy, which saw Becerra dabbling with electronic elements to mostly positive results. Does Departure represent another slice of experimentation, or continue down the evolutionary tract set by its predecessor?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The opening minutes of Departure luxuriate the senses with the lush production synonymous with Nostalghia\u2019s output, as rich acoustic strumming backdrops a dramatic building of strings, shakers, and percussion alongside Becerra\u2019s wispy cleans, climaxing with a skittering of classical piano on \u201cLeaving\u201d. The transition between \u201cLeaving\u201d and \u201cDearly Departed\u201d is a lovely high note, as the piano is taken up by electric guitar and Nostalghia\u2019s black metal bedrock surfaces with melancholic tremolos and blast beats, even as Becerra injects lively Spanish guitar, horns, and clarinet into the mix. Surprisingly, Becerra opts for a larger percentage of cleans on Departure, pushing the harsh vocals into more of a secondary role than on previous releases\u2014though tracks like \u201cQa Muqu\u201d see Becerra going full-in on his throaty roars and screeches, so it\u2019s not a complete departure. For fans expecting a more \u201ctraditional\u201d Nostalghia outing, however, the shift feels worth noting.<\/p>\n

Becerra stacks on a veritable surplus of instrumentation beyond the usual metal elements, bringing woodwinds, strings, horns, bells, et cetera to the mix, leading to a sonically diverse yet compositionally uneven record. While I appreciate many of the elements, like the gentle chiming bells and glockenspiel of \u201cThe Abyss Whispered\u201d atop the blackened fury, there is an underlying sense of things being slightly out of shape, not quite fitting together as seamlessly as they might. Likewise, \u201cDearly Departed\u201d and \u201cUr\u00f3boros\u201d strain against transitions between ideas, and the overall compositions come across a tad abrupt or out of sync as a result, feeling like whimsical flights of fancy rather than considered shifts into new sonic endeavors. Becerra finds more even footing on ten-minute closer \u201cOffret (including \u201cAshes Upon Eden\u201d, \u201cBy the Corpse of Earth\u201d and \u201cMercy\u201d)\u201d, shifting from a grand and beautiful, almost Novembers Doom-coded suite into a discordant swirl of instrumentation in the midsection that lends a properly dramatic and oppressive atmosphere before ascending to a joyous, near-Heavenly clamour of bells, brass, and Frida Zavala\u2019s angelic vocalizations to close out the record.<\/p>\n

Departure is an apt title for this latest chapter in Nostalghia\u2019s journey. While the work is unmistakably that of Becerra\u2019s, continuing his penchant for beautifully produced avant-garde black metal, and the wider focus on cleans and more varied compositions is welcome, this is the first time I\u2019ve struggled to mesh with his designs. I wish that more of the compositional ideas and implementations felt smoother across the album. Especially when there are so many enticing moments to be had: the dancing bassline and the way the jubilant horns add a brassy drama to the black metal on \u201cQa Muqu\u201d; the proggy, Gothic dolor coloring \u201cUr\u00f3boros\u201d and its slithering descent into jazzy madness; or the entirety of \u201cOffret.\u201d But too often as I began to lock into a song, an abrupt-feeling transition or sudden changeup in time would knock me loose. And that\u2019s a shame, because I love that Becerra, despite churning out albums like a madman (sometimes three in a year), has refused to settle into a rut or begin to sound stale.<\/p>\n

So, while Departure may have landed as something of a disappointment for me, I use that word extremely lightly\u2014a disappointing Nostalghia record is, by leaps and bounds, more interesting than what should be expected from a band on their fourteenth album. Becerra proves himself a perpetual motion engine of creative force, finding continuously interesting permutations of avant-garde black metal to experiment with. Hopefully, Becerra\u2019s next release will see all his musical explorations come together with a tighter focus that better complement his already excellent black metal foundations. The good news is, we probably won\u2019t have to wait long to find out. Regardless, in the interim, fans of the band and experimental black metal in general would do well to check in on this latest offering.<\/p>\n

Recommended tracks: Dearly Departed, Qa Muqu, Offret (including \u201cAshes Upon Eden\u201d, \u201cBy the Corpse of Earth\u201d and \u201cMercy\u201d)
You may also like: Pense\u00e9s Nocturnes<\/a>, Maladie<\/a>, D\u00e9h\u00e0<\/a>
Final verdict: 6\/10<\/p>\n

Related links: Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Label: Independent<\/p>\n

Nostalghia is:
\u2013 Alex Becerra (all instruments, vocals)
With guests:
\u2013 Valeria D\u00e1vila (flute on track 1, clarinet on track 2)
\u2013 Frida Zavala (vocals on track 7)<\/p>\n

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