Year: 2020
Label: Silent Future Recordings
Rating: 7,5/10
Having released the very LONG-awaited album “Strayed in Shadows” in 2021, my favorite band DE ARMA did not fall asleep again for a dozen years. Already in the spring of 2022, the mini-album "Nightcall" was published, which was either the first step towards a new style, or an experimental work. The truth will be revealed only by the next album of DE ARMA, the release of which, according to press releases, will take place one day.
"Strayed in Shadows" was already not a very metal album, but on "Nightcall" only certain basic design properties remained of metal. The sources of inspiration for it were primarily Gothic rock, darkwave and nocturnal synth pop a-la DEPECHE MODE "Ultra". A very atmospheric sound is being built on the still solid and clear rhythmic structures; it's trying to create images of futuristic noir, and does it very successfully. Three songs tell the story of a classic noir character in a hat and a long raincoat who lives alone in some dirty metropolis and drowns his grief in a bottle. All three are quite strong, but I was most impressed by the last one, where the recognizable ringing guitar of DE ARMA gives way to a synthesizer. You can say that this is a beautiful ballad, but there is some feeling of fatigue and indifference in it; it's as if you are looking at the dawn through the eyes of a person who has not slept for two days, and is so fucked up that the beauty of the morning sun is realized only on a visual level, but not on an emotional one. In the context of the noir style of the album it works very well.
Among other stylistic innovations, it can be noted that Andreas now sings more often together with guest vocalist Maria Oja. The album also features live guitarist of LIK, who performs excellent solos. Necromorbus was doing the mastering again. I liked "Nightcall", but I wouldn't say I'm as excited about it as I was about the band's previous releases. The transition to a new style took away something important from DE ARMA's music. It lacks real emotionality and dynamics; previously, the band managed to combine various pieces into very consistent tracks, but this is not the case here – everything is smooth and calm. However, maybe it like that; after all, this is a mini-album with a certain concept.
The edition of ”Nightcall" on CD comes in a digipack with a booklet containing all the texts. The design was made by a young Ukrainian artist Boris Groh. Details on a video. Aside from this release, Boris's near-musical portfolio has only one cover for some metal band from the States, but it doesn't matter, because Boris is the author of that very legendary masterpiece about the russian warship. Indeed, the world is not as big as it seems!
English (UK) 
Крыўская