Xavernah are a solo project from the Netherlands that plays an atmospheric and melodic mixture of black, doom and death metal with elements of ambient and dark jazz and this is a review of his self released 2025 album "Absence".
Pianos and ambient elements start off the album which also mixes in with the heavier sections of the songs at times. Clean playing and acoustic guitars are also added in certain sections of the recording while the music also has its atmospheric moments and all of the musical instruments also have a very powerful sound to them.
Some of the tracks are also very long and epic in length while whispered vocals can also be heard briefly. The slower sections of the album are also very heavily rooted in doom metal along with the harsh vocals bringing in a mixture of black metal screams and death metal growls, tremolo picking and blast beats are also added into the faster sections of the songs. The production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover desolation, dread and nihilism with some inspiration from the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelly and other writers from the 19th and early 20th century.
In my opinion Xavernah is a very great sounding atmospheric mixture of black, doom and death metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this solo project. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Perpetual Gloom Across The Basaltic Horizons" and "Celestial Ruin". 8 out of 10.
Bandcamp: https://xavernah.bandcamp.com/album/absence
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2pj2ChpqDBXM7QHwmSmrfeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Xavernah
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xavernah_project/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569326456220
When guitar solos and leads are utilized they are also done in a very melodic style along with the songs also adding in a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts. Touches of dark jazz are also added into the music at times as well as one of the tracks also being an instrumental, spoken words and clear singing can also be heard briefly and the riffs also add in a lot of melody.