This five-piece Norwegian band's debut album is pitched as "an expansive meditation over the longings and confinements of our material(istic) world" so don't expect any catchy pop tunes.
Since the word 'Nadir' signifies a time of greatest depression it comes as no surprise that the overall mood is introspective and downbeat.
The record took four years to produce with recordings taking place in a church, a hundred-year-old community centre, an art school, two studios and a host of apartments in Oslo.
The length of time spent on the project and the constant switching of locations suggests a distinct lack of spontaneity. It shows!
The heavily textured result is both overwrought and over-thought so it is more like a pretentious high concept prog-rock album than the kind of powerful post-rock I think they were aiming for.
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There's also an absence of consistency despite there being are only five tracks. The shorter tunes, Nadir and Intermission, have an ethereal folk feel while the 15 minute Horde owes more to GYBE!
The choral vocals hint at some kind of spiritual/existential crisis but, since the words are all but indecipherable, the precise nature of the inner turmoil remains a mystery.
With no real tension or drama, the stated ambitions of creating something unique remain buried in the ether.
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