Njiqahdda are simply one of those bands that defy classification.
You know the kind. There are bands that pop up from time to time bearing familiar elements of things you know and love – but something just seems off. You know their patterns, their tendencies, and can pinpoint their influences in their music, but there’s always that element that throws you for a loop, the one that you can’t really describe and that you can’t possibly imagine where it came from. It happens rarely, but the bands that bear this distinction often produce some very special material.
Njiqahdda have produced plenty of special material, and that is a result of their creativity as well as their prolificacy; since 2007, the duo has recorded and released a staggering 14 full-length albums and 29 EPs, while also recording drone/ambient music with a related project (Njiijn), as well as material with two separate, slightly more straightforward projects (Oaks of Bethel and Funeral Eclipse).
While the duo’s main project has always been rooted in black metal, Njiqahdda has covered a wide variety of sonic ground, citing such influences as Neurosis, Opeth, At the Drive-In, Gorguts, Deftones, Weakling, and Swans. The earlier released were marked with long, winding song structures and psychedelic ambient textures; similarities to post-black metal stalwarts In the Woods… are highly apparent. Divisionals showcased a more riff-focused, traditional (well, as traditional as Njiqahdda can get) black metal direction. The Path of Liberation from Birth and Death continued the focus on riffs, but twisted them into a horrifying monster that makes Deathspell Omega seem straightforward.
Their newest, Serpents in the Sky, is yet another departure; it retains the focus on riffs, and is more orderly and less chaotic than The Path of Liberation from Birth and Death, but less obviously black metal than all of their earlier works. In fact, I’m not really sure I can call this “black metal” at all; the In the Woods similarities are still there, and this album bears a strong Ved Buens Ende tinge as well, but the prog and psychedelic influences have been ramped up to new extremes. There are elements of Agalloch, Voivod, and Arcturus to be heard as well.
While the focus on riffs is not new for Njiqahdda, Serpents in the Sky is more focused on its structure than previous efforts. The older works, designed for the listeners to lose themselves in textures and atmosphere, would flow and meander, whereas Serpents in the Sky is much more defined structurally, with the separate section sticking out more on their own. The end result is that the songs feel more like… well, songs, rather than long winding complex pieces.
That does not, however, mean that Serpents in the Sky is straightforward or accessible. ‘Gaia’ and ‘The Veil of Allaeius’ may be easier to digest than the average Njiqahdda tune, but this is still a very dense album that requires multiple listens to sink in. For one, while the songs are mostly shorter than the typical Njiqahdda 15-to-30 minute journeys, these are still not “short” songs, with only the first two coming in under 6 minutes while the others range from 8 to 17 minutes. Furthermore, there are plenty of odd melodies and riffs that can throw the listener for a loop (listen to ‘With Clouds’ and you’ll get a good dose). And the atmosphere isn’t lacking either; the moodiness of the melodies, dark and somewhat murky production, and wonderfully orchestrated percussion do a fantastic job picking up where thick layers of ambience left off. There may be more easily recognizable hooks, and the textures may not be as dense, but that doesn’t make Serpents in the Sky the next pop-metal craze.
As a matter of fact, one could argue that the increased focus on hookiness is an improvement; that the long, winding forms of earlier Njiqahdda releases dragged on too long and weren’t memorable enough. You could also argue the opposite – that the dense texture is what made those releases so wonderful and focusing on the riffs loses the point – and be completely justified as well.
I happen to buy into neither argument, and simply think of Serpents in the Sky as another fantastic release in a long, varied, and strong discography. Sonic departure or not, the music on Serpents in the Sky is too good to view it differently. Artists as prolific as this have no reason to be this creative or this adventurous, and yet Njiqahdda seem to have limitless reserves of great ideas. Changes in direction as drastic as this often fail, but when they are fueled with great ideas – like Serpents in the Sky is – they can go to great places.
